266 THE HUMBLE-BEE x 
This was clearly demonstrated by the following in- 
cident. One evening I was examining a nest in my 
humble-bee house with the aid of a candle, it being 
too dark for me to see even to read, when the 
queen escaped. Instead of flying to the candle 
she made for the open door. Yet it is plain that 

Fic. 33.—How to hold a humble-bee, 
Grasped in this way by the wings she cannot sting. 
the flame of a candle is faintly perceived because if 
there is no other source of light a frightened bee 
will fly to it like a moth, although it is only by 
exciting her greatly that she can be induced to take 
wing. 
Several instances, not only of the good eyesight 
of humble-bees but of the intelligence with which 
