98 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. [Ch. ii. 



appendages consist of two pairs of unequal size, which 

 are arranged to hook together. In Plate I. Fig. a will 

 be seen the margins of the two wings. In Fig. B are the 

 eighteen or twenty hooks placed on the anterior margin 

 of the hinder wing, whilst the posterior margin of the 

 fore wing is beautifully folded over to receive them, so 

 that, when employed in fanning for ventilation, the two 

 wings on each side act as one, and present an unbroken 

 surface to the air. The wings of workers are larger than 

 those of the queen, but those of drones are much larger 

 still. 



The bee has six legs, three on each side. Each leg 

 is composed of several joints, having articulations like 

 a man's arm, for the thigh, the leg, and the foot. The 

 foremost pair of these are the shortest ; the middle pair 

 are somewhat longer, and with them the bee unloads 

 the little pellets from the baskets on her thighs ; the 

 hindmost are the longest of all. On the outside of the 

 middle joint of these last there is, in each leg, a small 

 cavity, in the form of a marrow-spoon, called the 

 " pollen basket." The pollen is conveyed from the front 

 to the second pair of legs, and from these to the recep- 

 tacles in the hind ones. Fig. 2 ^ in Plate I. shows the 

 inner side of the hind leg and pollen brush ; 2 b*, the 

 outer side and pollen basket. On entering a flower a 

 bee often covers itself with pollen, and hence the need 

 for the brash apparatus on reaching home. 



The legs are covered with hairs, more particularly the 



