1024 Marvels of the Universe 
but it is principally at night that the honey-bee carries on the minute and complicated work of 
comb-building, just the kind of work, one would think, in which the faculty of sight would be most 
necessary. Yet the combs grow steadily downward cell by cell, each cell keeping its hexagonal 
form, right dimensions, and extreme attenuity, and each comb being built exactly the required 
distance from its neighbours. 
The popular conception of a bee’s tongue as a hollow instrument by which she sucks nectar from 
the flowers in no way prepares the observer for what is seen when a near examination of the part is 
made. It is at once apparent 
that the bright brown, glistening 
appendage of the mouth is no 
tongue at all, but a continuation 
of the under-lip. It is one of the 
most complicated organs found in 
insect-anatomy. It consists of 
half a dozen distinct parts separ- 
ated longitudinally, which are 
capable of being brought together 
in various combinations, so as to 
form not only a single, large, 
hollow organ when a bulk of 
liquid has to be dealt with, 
but smaller tubes necessary for 
absorbing minute quantities of 
fluid. 
To the naked eye the six legs 
of a bee are very much like each 
other except in size, but under 
the microscope they appear as 
three pairs of elaborate imple- 
ments specially designed for use 
in the various tasks in which the 
worker-bee engages. 
Each leg consists of nine 
separately-jointed parts. On each 
of the forelegs is situated a very 
ingenious device by which the 
antenne are cleaned. This is a 
Photo bu) [Tickner Edwardes. 
PART OF A BEE’S TONGUE. semi-circular recess in the thigh, 
Small quantities of liquid are sucked or mopped up by the central process, lined with a crescent of stift 
tipped with fine hairs; but when a greater quantity is to be dealt with the semi- bristles The antenna is placed 
circular side-pieces are brought together, forming a larger tube. 
in this, and the knee-joint closed, 
when the brush engages with a curiously-shaped projection on the next upper leg-part, the whole 
forming a complete ring. The antenna is then drawn through this, and is thus scraped free of all 
adhering matter. 
The second legs have their special equipment of appliances useful in the minute commerce 
of the hive ; but it is the worker-bee’s hind-legs which carry the principal tools employed in her 
foraging labours. 
All the pollen—which, in some form or other, is an indispensable part of the food of every member 
of the colony, young and old—is transported to the hive on these hind-legs. The thigh is broadened 
