§ III.] THORAX AND ORGANS OF MOTION. 



99 



edges of the cavity mentioned, in which the kneaded 

 pollen requires to be maintained securely. In this they 

 convey those coloured loads which are so constantly 

 seen carried into a hive. This basket, or pollen groove, 

 in the thigh is peculiar to the worker ; neither queen nor 

 drone has anything of the kind. 



Another provision of the bee's limbs consists in a pair 

 of hook's attached to each foot, with their points opposite 

 to each other, by means of which the bees suspend 

 themselves from the roof or sides of hives, and cling to 

 each other as they do at swarming time or prior to and 

 during the formation of new comb, thus forming a living 

 curtain. In these circumstances each bee, with its two 

 fore claws, takes hold of the two hinder legs of the one 

 next above. This mode of suspension seems agreeable 

 to them, although the uppermost in the festoon appear to 

 be dragged by the weight below. Wildman supposed 

 that bees had a power of distending themselves with air 

 to acquire buoyancy, and thus lessen the burden of those 

 at the top. They find no difficulty in extricating them- 

 selves from the mass ; the most central of the group can 

 make its way without endangering the stability of the 

 grape-like cluster. 



Bees are able to walk freely in an inverted position, 

 either on glass or other slippery substances. The pecu- 

 liar mechanism of their feet, which enables them to do 

 so, consists in their having in the middle of each hook a 

 thin membranous little cup or sucker that is alternately 



