22 



MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 



biculum or i^oUeu basket, represented by the longest joints of the legs, 

 A, B, and (J, fig. 7. Into this the i)ollen falls, and with the middle 

 I)air of legs is tamped down for trans j)ortation to the hive. 



Having 



arrived there, the bee thrusts its hind legs into a cell located as near to 

 the brood nest as may be, and loosening the pellets lets them fall into 

 the bottom of the cell. The tibial spur (fig. 7, e) on each middle leg is, 

 as Professor Cheshire has pointed out, probably of use in piying the 

 pellets out. The latter are simply dropped into cells and left for some 



other bee to pack down 

 by kneading or pressing 

 with its mandibles. Va- 

 rious colors — yellow, 

 brown, red, slate, etc., 

 according to the kinds 

 of flowers from which 

 gath ered — frequently 

 show in layers in the 

 same cell. Often when 

 partly filled with pollen 

 the cell is then filled up 

 with honey and sealed 

 more or less hermetically 

 with wax. The bees 

 store the pollen, for con- 

 venience in feeding, 

 above and at the sides 

 of the brood and as near 

 to it as possible, the 

 comb on each side of the 

 brood nest being gener- 

 ally well stored with it. 



NECTAR AND HONEY. 



The liquid secreted in 

 the nectaries of flowers 

 is usually quite thin, 

 containing, when just 

 gathered, a large per- 

 centage of water. Bees 

 suck or lap it u]) from 

 such flowers as they can 

 reach with their flexible, sucking tongue, 0.25 to 0.U8 inch long. (Fig. 

 8, I.) This nectar is taken into the honey sac (Plate 11, h. s.) located in 

 the abdomen, for transportation to the hive. It is possible that part of 

 the water is eliminated by the gatherers before they reach the hive. A 

 Eussian bee keeper, M. Nassanoft', while dissecting a worker, discovered 



Fig. 8.— Head and tongue of Apis mellifica worker (raagni- 

 iied twelve times), a, Antenna, or feeler; m, niandibula, or 

 outer jaw; g, gum flap, or epipbarynx; mxp, maxillary palpus; 

 pg, paraglossa; iiix, maxilla, or inner. jaw ; Jp. labial palpus, 

 I, ligula, or tongue ; b, bouton, or spoon of tbe same. (Reduced 

 from Cbesbire.) 



