INSECTS 121 
its legs. 1t then thrusts into the flower its long pliant and 
hairy tongue, with which it licks up the nectar. This is: 
quickly transferred to the honey-bag, where it is converted 
into honey, a substance differing in colour, taste, and smell 
from the nectar of the flower. The head also carries a pair 
of mandibles—these are used for detaching the pollen grains 
from the anthers of the flowers or the resinous propolis 
from certain trees—cone-bearing trees contain a plentiful 
supply of this substance. 
The food thus obtained is carried back to the hive, where 
some of it is used to feed the young bees and drones, the 
rest being stored up 
for winter use. The 
Bee’s body and legs 
are covered with 
hairs—to these the 
pollen grains cling 
when the insect 
brushes against 
them. On the inner 
Fig. 80. side of the first tarsal 
joint there is a series 
of rows of stiff hairs called the brush; whilst on the outer 
side of the tibia joint is a triangular depression known as 
the basket. With the brush of the right leg the bee 
gathers the pollen adhering to its body into the basket on 
its left leg, and with that of the left leg sweeps the pollen 
into the basket on its right leg. The pollen and propolis 
detached by the mandibles are in the same way passed 
back and transferred to the baskets. 
The Sting is a combination of a sharp stabbing instru- 
ment and a poison gland. The former makes the wound 
into which the latter pours a drop of poison, often causing 
pain and swelling. The irritating liquid or poison contains 
