52 THE SENSES OF BEES. 



effects which in other insects unquestionably proceed 

 from the sense of hearing, we regard these effects 

 as presumptive evidence of the former possessing 

 the same faculty. 'Huber sets out with intimating a 

 doubt of its existence, possibly in deference to his 

 friend Bonnet, to whom his letters are addressed, 

 and who was an unbeliever in its reality, yet in the 

 end confesses that he is strongly tempted to believe 

 in it, or at least to admit a sense in Bees analogous 

 to hearing, observing that certain sounds, as produced 

 by Bees, apparently serve as a signal to their com- 

 panions, and are followed by regular consequences, and 

 that, therefore, they may be additional means of com- 

 munication to those afforded by the antennae. He 

 mentions particularly a sound emitted by the queen, 

 which produces paralyzing effects on the Bees in 

 certain circumstances. Describing the attempts of a 

 reigning queen to destroy her rivals while yet ^n 

 their cells, he tells us, that " the Bees on guard 

 pulled, bit her, and chased her away." In these 

 circumstances she emitted the sound alluded to; 

 "standing, while doing so, with her thorax against 

 a comb, and her wings crossed on her back, in 

 motion, but without being unfolded or farther opened. 

 Whatever might be the cause of her assuming this 

 attitude, the Bees were affected by it ; all hung down 

 their heads, and remained motionless/'* On another 

 occasion, after a queen had put her rival to death, 

 " she approached a royal cell, and took this moment 

 to utter the sound, and assume that posture which 

 * Huber, 157. 



