22 



PHTSioLoar OF the honey-bee. 



53. "But another contrivance, equally beautiful, remains 

 to be noticed. The pulvillus is carried folded in the middle (as 

 at C, flg. 12), but opens out when applied to a surface, for it has 

 at its upper part an elastic and curved rod («•) which straightens 

 as the pulvillus is pressed down, C and D, flg. 12, making this 

 clear. The flattened-out pulvillus thus holds strongly while 

 pulled, by the weight of the bee, along the surface, to which it 

 adheres, but comes up at once if lifted and rolled oflffrom its op- 

 posite sides, just as we should peel a wet postage stamp from its 

 envelope. The bee, then, is held securely till it attempts to lift 

 the leg, when it is freed at once ; and, by this exquisite yet 

 simple plan, it can fix and release each foot at least twenty 

 times per second." — (Cheshire.) 



Fig. 12. 



bee's i'oot in climbing, showing action of pulvillus. 

 (Magnified 30 times . From Cheshire . ) 



A, position of the foot in climbing slippery surface or glass; pv, pul- 

 villus; fh, feeling hairs ; an, anguiculus, or claw; I, tarsal joint. 



B, position of the foot in climbing rough surface. 



C, section of pulvillus just touching flat surface; or, curved rod. 



D, pulvillus applied to surface. 



54. The legs of bees, like all other parts of their body, 

 are covered with hairs of varied shapes and sizes, the de- 

 scription of which is beyond the limits of this work. We 

 will confine ourselves to a short explanation of the uses, 

 which have a direct bearing upon the work of t"\e bee. 



The hairs of the front, or first, pair of legs (C, Plate IV) 

 are especially useful in cleaning the eyes and the tongue, 

 and gathering the pollen grains. 



55. On the metatarsus, the lower of the two largest joints 

 of these front legs, is a rounded notch (E, a, Plate IV), 

 closed when the leg is folded, by a sort of spur or velumi 



