210 



[September, 



membrane connecting the fifth and sixth segments of the dorsum, which 

 normally lies hidden under the 5th segment. It struck me that this 

 membrane might produce the scent I had noticed, and that the scent 

 might be employed .is a means of allurement whenever the instinct 

 of any worker belonging to a swarm or colony prompted her to call 

 her comrades.* The very "humming" or fanning seemed to lend 

 support to my theory, for I asked myself— Would not the disturbance 

 of the air caused by the vibration of the wings distribute the scent 

 far and wide? It seemed to me that in no way could the bee distri- 

 bute the scent better than by elevating that portion of its body from 

 which the scent issued, and by fanning the scent with a vibration 

 of the wings. 



By the use of a 

 specially - constructed 

 sta^e for my micros- 

 cope, in which I could 

 clamp and distend the 

 abdomen of a newly- 

 killed worker-bee, I was 

 able to get a very fair 

 view of the organ in 

 question (see figure). 

 At the base of the 6th 

 segment is a long nar- 

 row depression (B). 

 The surface of this de- 

 pression and that of 

 the adjoining portion of the membrane A appeared to be finely 

 rugulose, or covered with a mass of minute vesicules. 



I tried a number of experiments in endeavouring to prove my 

 theory, but it was not until March, 1901, that T was able to do this to 

 my satisfaction. I then made the following experiment • — 



The dorsal segments of several newly-killed worker-bees were 

 removed en masse, and stretched out by means of fine pins on to a 

 sheet of cardboard. In this way the membranes connecting all the 



* The effective working of this beautiful arrangement is very strikingly illustrated in the 

 case of the tired, drowsy bees that often enter the hives singly on a cold spring evening. .Many 

 of them fail through exhaustion to alight exactly at the entrance, and they would probably 

 perish if it were not for the fact that those who are more fortunate will almost always stand for 

 some time at the portal humming ami exposing the scent organ before joining the warm cluster 

 in the hive, although they are often benumbed with cold. A few such bees will rouse any others 

 standing around in a remarkable way, and direct them into the hive ; but hardly one of these 

 will go in until it has fust done its share of humming, and exposing the membrane. The 

 more bees that have found the entrance in this way, the greater will he the band of hummers ; 

 thus, the larger the number of lives in danger the greater is the means of rescue. — F. W. L. S. 





