24 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



58. "But the chief interest centers on the two joints last men- 

 tioned {ti,p,A. B., Plate IV), as a device for carrying the pollen of 

 the blossom home to the hive. The metatarsus is enlarged into 

 a suh-quadrangular form, constituting a flattish plate, slightly con- 

 vex on both surfaces. The outer face [p, A, Plate IV) is not remark- 

 able, but the one next the body (p, B) is furnished with stiff 

 combs, the teeth of which are horny, straight spines, set closely, 

 and arranged in transverse rows across the joint, a little projecting 

 above its plane, and the tips of one comb slightly overlapping 

 the basis of the next. Their colour is reddish-brown ; and en- 

 tangled in the combs, we almost invariably discover pollen gran- 

 ules, which have been at first piclced up by the thoracic hairs, 

 but combed out by the constant play of the legs over the breast — 

 in which worlv, the second pair, bearing a strong resemblance to 

 the third, performs an important part." 



59. " So soon as the bees have loaded these combs, they do 

 not return to the hive, but transfer the pollen to the hollow sides 

 of the tibia, seen at il, A. This concavity, corbicula, or pollen 

 baslvet. is smooth and hairless, except at the edges, whence spring 

 long, slender, curved spines, two sets following the line of the 

 bottom and sides of the baslset, while a third bends over its front. 

 The concavity fits it to contain pollen, while the marginal hairs 

 greatly inereaRe its possible load, lilie the sloping stalies which 

 the farmer places round the sides of his waggon when he desires 

 to carry loose hay, the set bent over (see G, Plate IV) accomplish- 

 ing the purpose of the cords by which he saves his property from 

 being lost on the road. But a difficulty arises : How can the pol- 

 len be transferred from the metatarsal comb to the basket above ? 

 Easily ; for it is the left metatarsus that charges the right basket, 

 and vice versa The legs are crossed, and the metatarsus naturally 

 scrapes its comb-face on the upper edge of the opposite tibia, in 

 the direction from the base of the combs towards their tips. 

 These upper hairs standing over w;^, B, or close to ti, A (which are 

 opposite sides of the same joint), are nearly straight, and pass 

 between the comb teeth. The pollen, as removed, is caught by 

 the bent-over hairs, and secured. Each scrap adds to the mass, 

 until tlie face of the joint is more than covered, and the hairs just 

 embrace the pellet as we see it in the cross-section at G. The 

 worker now hies homewards, and the spine, as a crow-bar, does 

 its work."— (Cheshire.) 



60. The four wings, in two pairs, are supported by hoi- 



