As the pollen mass increases in size and hangs downward and backward over the pecten and auricle it shows upon its inner and lower surface a deep groove which runs outward from the entrance to the basket. (See fig. 9, _b_.) This groove results from the continued impact of the outer end of the auricle upon the pollen mass. At each upward stroke of the auricle its outer point comes in contact with the stored pollen as soon as the mass begins to bulge backward from the basket. Although the process is a rather delicate one, it is entirely possible so to manipulate the hind legs of a recently killed bee that the corbiculæ of the two legs receive loads of pollen in a manner similar to that above described. To accomplish this successfully the operator must keep the combs of the plantæ well supplied with moistened pollen. If the foot of first one leg and then the other is grasped with forceps and so guided that the pollen combs of one leg rasp over the pecten spines of the other, the pollen from the combs will be transferred to the corbiculæ. To continue the loading process in a proper manner, it is also necessary to flex the planta of each leg just after the pollen combs of the opposite leg have deposited pollen behind the pecten. By this action the auricle is raised, compressing the pollen which the pecten has secured, and forcing some upward into the corbicula. Bees' legs which have been loaded in this artificial manner show pollen masses in their corbiculæ which are entirely similar in appearance to those formed by the labors of the living bee. Moreover, by the above method of manipulation the pollen appears first at the bottom of the basket, along its lower margin, gradually extends upward along the floor of the chamber, comes in contact with the overhanging hairs, and is shaped by them in a natural manner. All attempts to load the baskets by other movements, such as crossing the hind legs and scraping the plantar combs over the lateral edges of the baskets, give results which are entirely different from those achieved by the living bee. [Illustration: Fig. 9.--Inner surface of the right hind leg of a worker bee which bears a complete load of pollen, _a_, Scratches in the pollen mass caused by the pressure of the long projecting hairs of the basket upon the pollen mass as it has been pushed up from below; _b_, groove in the pollen mass made by the strokes of the auricle as the mass projects outward and backward from the basket. (Original.)] POLLEN MOISTENING. 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: