Page:How to Keep Bees.djvu/230

186 locomotion. Thus, on each fore leg there is an organ for cleaning the antennæ. The antenna cleaner consists of a circular notch near the base of the metatarsus, which is furnished with teeth like a comb (Plate VII, F, a), and a spur projecting back from the tibia in such a way as to close this notch when the leg is bent. The antenna to be cleaned is drawn through this notch and thus the dirt is combed from it.

On the middle legs there is a strong spur at the distal end of the tibia which is used in loosing the pellets of pollen brought to the hive on the hind legs.

The third pair of legs are furnished with three organs which deserve mention here. First: the wax pincers. Both the tibia and the metatarsus are wide; the joint uniting them is at one edge, hence by alternately bending and straightening the leg at this joint, the space between the two segments (Plate VII, B, wp) is opened and shut like pincers. This organ is used to loosen from the abdomen the scales of wax. Second: the pollen-combs. These are several comb-like series of spines, borne on the inner surface of the metatarsus (Plate VII, B, pc). When a bee visits a flower the pollen is gathered by the tongue and fore legs and some of it becomes entangled among the hairs on the thorax. It is then combed from these parts by means of the pollen-combs and transferred to the pollen-baskets. Third: the pollen-basket. There is a pollen-basket on the outer surface of the tibia of each hind leg. It consists of a fringe of hairs, surrounding a smooth, concave area which