io PERSONALITY OF THE HONEY-BEE 



In each hind-leg is situated the curious con- 

 trivance known as the pollen-basket. It is a hol- 

 lowed cavity surrounded by bristly hairs by means 

 of which the grains, after being masticated with 

 saliva, are retained in position during the home- 

 ward journey. The front legs have an auxiliary 

 implement in the shape of a brush, by means 

 of which the pollen is scraped from the flowers 

 and transferred to the pollen-basket. 



Within the large, roomy abdomen are contained 

 the alimentary system, together with the honey- 

 sac, in which nectar is carried home, the rudi- 

 mentary sex organs, and the apparatus by which 

 the sting which terminates the body of the insect 

 is operated. Briefly, this well-provided creature 

 is one of the most self-reliant of all living things, 

 spending its days in ceaseless journeys into the 

 fields in search of nectar and pollen, and its nights 

 in house construction and decoration. Yet all 

 this labour is performed for the sake of a genera- 

 tion which it had no part in the production of. 

 There is, as it were, no mainspring of maternal 

 instinct, such as is so plainly evidenced in most 

 other living things. The worker bee, although 

 possessing the degenerated organs of the female 

 sex, has no power of using them, and is, to all 

 intents and purposes, a sexless creature, an almost 

 automatic portion of the hive machinery. 



Clearly, this defect must be supplied in some 

 way, or the race could not be carried on. The 



