While working upon the problem of wax-scale manipulation during the summer of 1911 the writer became convinced that the so-called wax shears or pinchers of the worker honey bee have nothing whatever to do with the extraction of the wax scales from their pockets, but rather that they are organs used in loading the pollen from the pollen combs of the hind legs into the corbiculæ or pollen baskets (Cast eel, 1912). Further observations made at that time disclosed the exact method by which the hind

The hairs which cover the body and appendages of the bee are of the utmost importance in the process of pollen gathering. For the purposes of this account these hairs may be classified roughly as (1) branched hairs and (2) unbranched hairs, the latter including both long, slender hairs and stiff, spinelike structures. Of these two classes the branched hairs are the more numerous. They make up the hairy coat of the head, thorax, and abdomen, with the exception of short sensory spines, as those fo

When bees collect pollen from flowers they may be engaged in this occupation alone or may combine it with nectar gathering. From some flowers the bees take only nectar, from others only pollen; a third class of flowers furnishes an available supply of both of these substances. But even where both pollen and nectar are obtainable a bee may gather nectar and disregard the pollen. This is well illustrated by the case of white clover. If bees are watched while working upon clover flowers, the observ

A very complete knowledge of the pollen-gathering behavior of the worker honey bee may be obtained by a study of the actions of bees which are working upon a plant which yields pollen in abundance. Sweet corn is an ideal plant for this purpose, and it will be used as a basis for the description which follows. In attempting to outline the method by which pollen is manipulated the writer wishes it to be understood that he is recounting that which he has seen and that the description is not necessa

Although the pollen of some plants appears to be somewhat sticky, it may be stated that as a general rule pollen can not be successfully manipulated and packed in the baskets without the addition of some fluid substance, preferably a fluid which will cause the grains to cohere. This fluid, the nature of which will be considered later, comes from the mouth of the bee, and is added to the pollen which is collected by the mouthparts and to that which is brought into contact with the protruding tong

The middle legs are used to collect the pollen gathered by the forelegs and mouthparts, to remove free pollen from the thoracic region, and to transport their load of pollen to the hind legs, placing most of it upon the pollen combs of these legs, although a slight amount is directly added to the pollen masses in the corbiculæ. Most of the pollen of the middle legs is gathered upon the conspicuous brushes of the first tarsal segments or plantæ of these legs. Fig. 5. —A flying bee, showing the ma

The middle legs contribute the major portion of the pollen which reaches the hind legs, and all of it in cases where all of the pollen first reaches the bee in the region of the mouth. However, when much pollen falls upon the body of the bee the hind legs collect a little of it directly, for it falls upon their brushes and is collected upon them when these legs execute cleansing movements to remove it from the ventral surface and sides of the abdomen. All of the pollen which reaches the corbicul

The point at which pollen enters the basket can best be determined by examining the corbiculæ of a bee shortly after it has reached a flower and before much pollen has been collected. Within each pollen basket of such a bee is found a small mass of pollen, which lies along the lower or distal margin of the basket. (See fig. 8 , a .) It is in this position because it has been scraped from the planta of the opposite leg by the pecten comb and has been pushed upward past the entrance of the basket

Many descriptions have been written by others of the method by which pollen is gathered and moistened. Some of these are indefinite, some are incorrect, while others are, in part, at least, similar to my own interpretation of this process. A few citations will here be given: The bee first strokes the head and the proboscis with the brushes of the forelegs and moistens these brushes with a little honey from the proboscis, so that with later strokes all of the pollen from the head is collected upo

When the bee has fully loaded its baskets and before it returns to the hive it often spends a little time upon the plant from which it has been collecting, occupied with the task of cleaning scattered grains of pollen from its body and of patting down securely the loads which it has obtained. Upon its return to the hive it hurries within and seeks for a suitable place in which to deposit the pollen. Some returning bees walk leisurely over the combs and loiter among their sister workers, while ot

Pollen may be collected by the worker bee upon its mouthparts, upon the brushes of its legs, and upon the hairy surface of its body. When the bee collects from small flowers, or when the supply is not abundant, the mouthparts are chiefly instrumental in obtaining the pollen. The specialized leg brushes of the worker are used to assemble the pollen, collecting it from the body parts to which it first adheres and transporting it to the pollen baskets or corbiculæ of the hind legs. In this manipula

Alefeld, Dr.—Vol. 5. Nos. 15 and 16. Eichstädt Bienen Zeitung. Summarized in "Die Bienenzeitung in neuer, geschichteter und systematische geordneter Ausgabe." Herausgegeben vom Schinid und Kleine: Erste Band, Theoretischer Theile. 1861. Casteel, D. B., 1912.—The manipulation of the wax scales of the honey bee, Circular 161, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Dept. Agriculture, pp. 15. Cheshire, F. R., 1886.—Bees and bee-keeping; scientific and practical. Vol. I, scientific; II, practical. London. Fleis