POLLEN. 93 



sect a few pollen gatherers at the time when honey is 

 plenty : he will generally find their honey-bags full. 



The mode of gathering is very interesting. The body of 

 the bee appears, to the naked eye, to be covered with fine 

 hairs : when she alights on a flower, the farina adheres to 

 these. With her legs, she brushes it from her body, and 

 packs it in two hollows or baskets, one on each of her thighs : 

 these baskets are surrounded by stouter hairs which hold the 

 load in its place. 



When the bee returns with polllen, she often makes a 

 singular dancing or vibratory motion, to attract the attention 

 of the other bees, who nibble away from her thighs what 

 they want for immediate use ; the rest she stores away for 

 future need, by inserting her body in a cell and brushing it 

 off from her legs ; it is then carefully packed down, and 

 often sealed over with wax. Pollen is very seldom deposited 

 in any except worker cells. 



When from the dryness of the air, or any other cause, 

 the pollen cannot be readily gathered in balls, the bee will 

 often roll herself in the farina, and return, thus dusted over, 

 to her hive. 



It has been observed that a bee, in gathering pollen, al- 

 most always confines herself to the kind of flower on which 

 she begins, even when that is not so abundant as some oth- 

 ers ; thus a ball of this substance taken from her thigh, is 

 found to be of a uniform color throughout : the load of one 

 will be yellow, another red, and a third brown ; the color 

 varying according to that of the plant from which the supply 

 was obtained. It is probable that the pollen of different kinds 

 of flowers would not pack so well together. As they carry 

 on their bodies the pollen or fertilizing substance, they aid 

 most powerfully in the impregnation of plants ! 



He must be blind indeed, who does not see, at every step 



