The Life Processes of the Individual 157 
or of getting under way rapidly. There is no reason to be¬ 
lieve that flight is in any way dependent upon the amount 
of air in the tracheae, as has been claimed, for filling the 
air sacs obviously does not reduce the weight of the bee. 
The maximum rate of flight is not clearly established, for 
the currents of air must be eliminated in making such de¬ 
terminations; the rapidity of movement depends largely 
upon the load being carried. Bees are able to fly at a con¬ 
siderable angle for some 
distance as is seen in 
apiaries in mountainous 
districts. The power of 
the wing muscles is shown 
by the ability of a 
worker to fly from the 
hive carrying a drone, 
which weighs more than 
the worker itself. 
In walking, bees use 
all six legs (Fig. 81). In 
addition to their function 
in locomotion, the legs 
constitute a rather com¬ 
plex set of tools for nu¬ 
merous other purposes, 
especially complex in the 
worker. On the front legs at the articulation of the tibia 
and first tarsal joint are the antennae cleaners. The 
middle leg has a spur to which has been attributed the 
function of prying pollen from the hind legs in storing it. 
The hind legs of the worker bees are highly specialized, 
carrying pollen baskets or corbicula on the outer side of 
the flattened tibiae and rows of spines on the inner side of 
the first tarsal joint. Between these two joints are the so- 
called wax-shears, which in fact have nothing to do with 
the wax, but function in pollen gathering (p. 123). Each 
leg is provided with a pollen brush for collecting pollen. 
Fig. 82. — Dorsal (A), ventral (B) and 
lateral (C) views of last tarsal joint 
of first foot of worker. 
