How do honey bees carry pollen?
Honey bees carry pollen back to the hive in a small “basket” of fine hairs on the outside of their hind legs. As the bee scrapes pollen off its body, hairs on the leg collect the pollen. It is then transferred to the basket opening with a minute comb at the mid-joint of the leg. There is even a “pollen press” as part of the joint that will pack the pollen into these baskets. When the basket is full the bee will return to the hive and unload the pollen “pellets” out of the baskets into a cell. The house bees then take care of packing the pollen down in the cell until it’s needed for food for the brood.
