42 
THE HON EV— MAKERS. 
The body of the worker, like that of the other 
bees, is clothed with a hairy down ; and the bee, 
rolling in the food-giving dowers, soon covers 
herself with the dust. The hind-legs, with their 
baskets, have already been described. The other 
legs are furnished with delicate hair-brushes, with 
which the bee carefully wipes off the collected 
dust, and, after working it over, deposits it in her 
baskets. When gathering propolis, (which will be 
spoken of at length as we advance,) the bee kneads 
it until it becomes somewhat dry and less sticky, 
and this process sometimes occupies half an hour. 
She then passes it backward by means of her feet 
to the cavity of her basket, giving it two or three 
pats to make it adhere; and when she adds a 
second portion, she often finds it necessary to 
pat it still harder, crowding it down with all the 
energy, skill, and desire to carry a large load 
that a human being could manifest under sim- 
ilar circumstances. When she has gathered as 
much as the basket will hold, and the delicate, 
elastic fringe-work bends with the heaped-up bur- 
den, she flies off to the hive, and unloads her 
treasures for the common good. 
