CHAPTER XIV. The Second and Third Pair of Legs

THE SECOND AND THIRD PAIR OF LEGS

The second pair of legs is slightly longer than the front ones. Each is furnished with a kind of stiff spike with which the wings are cleaned.

The third pair of legs are perhaps the most interesting of all. They are the longest, and the hairs for pollen gathering are far more numerous upon them than on the other legs. If we look at (a) Plate X. we see that there is an opening in the leg around which is set a row of spikes. This is shown more plainly in (b) Plate X. As the joints work on a kind of hinge, these spikes act like pincers; they are known as the wax-pincers and will be mentioned later. Another interesting feature is the corbicula, or pollen basket, which is the receptacle in which the pollen is carried from the flowers to the hive. You will see from the picture of the worker bee, in Plate V., that the large joints of the hind legs are much broader than the others. They are also hollowed out, and around each edge are numbers of spike-like hairs, which curl inwards over the hollow. These make a sort of basket, and I am sorry that I am not able to show you a photograph of this interesting feature, but it is a most difficult subject of which to obtain a picture. However, I have made this little drawing, which perhaps will help to give you some idea of its nature.

I should tell you that the pollen basket is situated on the outside of the leg, that is, the side which is away from the bee’s body. On the inside are several combs, which are made up of rows of spike-like hairs. When the thorax has become covered with pollen the bee uses these hairs to comb it out; this it does by crossing its legs below the body. It is interesting to notice that neither the queen nor the drone has pollen baskets.

(a)

From a photograph by] [E. Hawks

Wing

(b)

From a photo-micrograph by] [E. Hawks

Fine Needle compared with Sting]