pollen magnet."
a bee's legs have an array of combs and brushes. as she becomes laden with pollen, a female bee uses those tools as grooming devices, running them through her body and hair to pull away the pollen. as she brushes herself, she draws the pollen toward her hind legs into those little pockets.
as a bee gathers a batch of pollen, she pushes it into the bottom of the basket, pressing it tightly into what's already there. a full basket can carry as many as a million grains of pollen.
she mixes a little nectar with the pollen to make it sticky and to help it hold together, says the honeybee 