POLLEN. 
83 
The mode of gathering pollen is very interesting. The 
body of the bee appears to the naked eye to be covered 
with fine hairs, to which, when she alights on a flower, the 
farina adheres. With her legs, she brushes it from her 
body, and packs it in the hollows, or baskets , one of which 
is on each of her thighs; these baskets are surrounded by 
stouter hairs, which hold the load in its place. If from 
any cause the pollen cannot be readily gathered in balls, 
the bee will often roll herself in it, and return, all dusted 
over, to her hive. 
When the bee brings home a load of pollen, she often 
shakes her body in a singular manner, to attract the atten¬ 
tion of other bees, who nibble from her thighs what 
they want for immediate use; the rest she stores away 
for future need, by inserting her body in a cell and brush¬ 
ing it from her legs; it is then carefully packed down, 
being often covered with honey, and sealed over with 
wax. Pollen is very rarely deposited in any except 
worker-cells. 
Aristotle observed, that a bee, in gathering pollen, con¬ 
fines herself to the kind of blossom on which she begins, 
even if it is not so abundant as some others; thus a ball 
of this substance taken from her thigh, is found to be of 
a uniform color throughout; the load of one insect being 
yellow, of another, red, and of a third, brown ; the color 
varying with that of the plant from which the supply was 
obtained. They may prefer to gather a load from a single 
species of plant, because the pollen of different kinds does 
not pack so well together. Bees, by carrying the pollen 
or fertilizing substance of plants, on their bodies, from 
blossom to blossom, contribute essentially to their impreg¬ 
nation. 
Though the importance of pollen has long been known, 
it is only of late that any attempts have been made to 
