When a bee is out “shopping” for food, it uses its pollen baskets, built-in saddlebags on its hind legs to carry groceries back to the hive. Bees carry pollen on their hind legs using a specialized, concave structure called the corbicula, or pollen basket. As a bee visits flowers, sticky pollen grains adhere to its fuzzy body via static electricity. The bee then grooms itself, using its front and middle legs to brush the grains toward its hind legs. To secure the load, the bee moistens the pollen with regurgitated nectar, forming a viscoelastic pellet that is packed into the corbicula from the bottom up using a “pollen press” joint. Long, curved hairs rimming the basket then act like a cage to hold the nutrient-rich ball in place during flight.
Source:
Matherne, M. E. (2021). “Biomechanics of pollen pellet removal by the honey bee.” Journal of the Royal Society Interface.