IPrERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 195 



Was reserved for Huber to discover the true cause of 

 it; and from him the chief of what I have to say upon 

 the subject will be derived^. 



During- the summer a certain number of workers — for 

 it is to the workers solely that this office is committed 

 — may always be observed vibrating their wings before 

 the entrance of their hive ; and the observant apiarist 

 will find upon examination, that a still greater num- 

 ber are engaged within it in the same employment. All 

 those thus circumstanced that stand without, turn their 

 head to the entrance ; while those that stand within, 

 turn their back to it. The station of these ventilators 

 is upon the floor of the hive. They are usually ranged 

 in files, that terminate at the entrance ; and sometimes, 

 but not constantly, form so many diverging rays, pro- 

 bably to give room for comers and goers to pass. The 

 number of ventilators in action at the same time varies ; 

 it seldom much exceeds twenty, and is often more cir- 

 cumscribed. The time also that they devote to this 

 function is longer or shorter according to circum- 

 stances : some have been observed to continue their 

 vibrations for nearly half an hour without resting, 

 suspending the action for not more than an instant, as 

 it should seem to take breatli. When one retires, 

 another occupies its place ; so that in a hive well 

 peopled there is never any interruption of the sound 

 or humming occasioned by this action ; by which it may 

 always be known whether it be going on or not. 



This humming is observable not only during the 

 heats of summer, but at all seasons of the year. It 

 sometimes seems even more forcible in the depth of 



» Huber, ii. 338-302. 

 N 2 



