The Legs 79 



time, sometimes nothing but honey as the bare tliighs tes- 

 tify, and sometimes nothing but pollen. 



At the joint between the tibia and metatarsus, and best 

 seen on the inside of the leg, is a curious modification 

 known as the wax -jaws. This in reahty is a pair of 

 pincers by which the bee grasps and removes the scale; 

 of wax from the abdominal plates. The end ^^ 



of the tibia {E) is curved and fringed with 

 stiff hairs that shut down against a plate 

 {P) on the metatarsus, thus forming the 

 "jaws." 



The metatarsus on the inner side bears a 

 beautiful shining golden-brown comb {C) of 

 several rows of stiff bristle-like hairs. These 

 comb pollen from the breast of the bee, comb 

 down the wings, clean the middle pair of legs, 

 clean the abdomen above and below and clean 

 each other. With the exception of the an- 

 tennae cleaners they are the most often used 

 of all the implements of the toilet. 



The wing is cleaned by being caught be- 

 tween the body and these combs ; the upper 

 wing by itself, first one side and then the 

 other, and the lower one in the same way. 



These combs also make the final gathering of pollen and 

 deliver the load to the basket of the opposite leg. 



On all the legs cleaning hairs are mingled with the gath- 

 ering hairs in order to keep the pollen-dusted litde creature 

 free. 



Bees vvill clean each other of honey, though they do not 

 take equal pains to restore to purity a sister distressed by 

 other substances. 



When disturbed slightly bees have a curious habit of 

 raising the middle and last legs on one side of the body, as 



