THE HONEY-BEE. 



though the whole country be crowded with hives. 

 Yet, if the hive, or its door, has been shifted to 

 a slight extent, the insect seems confused, and 

 cannot find its way. The conclusion from this is, 

 that the eyes of the bee have a lengthened focus, 

 suiting them for the main purposes of its ex- 

 istence. But the consequent inability to deter- 

 mine accurately within short distances, has been 

 compensated to the creature by the antennae, 

 which then become a highly serviceable resource. 

 The sense of taste in bees has been the subject 

 of much discussion. Huber was of opinion that 

 it was the most imperfect of their senses, and 

 they have been observed to resort to putrid 

 marshes for water, even when they were not 

 restricted in their choice. Xenophon found his 

 men seriously injured by eating honey produced 

 by bees which had fed on deleterious plants. 

 But, on the other hand, it has been noticed that 

 bees reject many .substances, and prefer others, 

 when a choice is allowed them ; and it has been 

 conjectured that they go to marshes purposely for 

 the salt in their waters. Moreover, what renders 

 the honey deleterious to man, may not be hurtful 

 to bees. Honey formed from a particular flower 

 in Jersey, was found unfit for use from its in- 

 toxicating qualities ; yet the bees throve wonder- 

 fully upon it all the while. Their taste in select- 

 ing the richest flowers is likewise unquestionable. 

 No doubt the sense of smell comes into operation 

 on the'se occasions, as well as the sense of taste. 

 Betwixt the influence and effects of the two, 

 indeed, it is scarcely possible to discriminate. 

 Even in the case of the human being, it is an 

 established fact, that the powers commonly as- 

 cribed to the sense of taste are to a remarkable 

 degree dependent on the sense of smell. If the 

 eyes be bandaged, and the apertures of the nose 

 well shut up, the most experienced judge will be at 

 a loss to determine between any two kinds of 

 ardent spirits, or other pungent substances. The 

 most nauseous medicines, also, much as they may 

 usually seem to affect the taste, will be found 

 almost insipid if the site of the sense of smell be 

 closed up while they are swallowed. In bees, the 

 site of the two senses seems to be almost one and 

 the same. Many experiments of Huber seem to 

 prove that the sense of smell lies in the mouth, 

 and that it is very acute. He found that they 

 hate the odour of turpentine ; yet on plugging up 

 the mouth, they shewed no disgust when placed 

 beside that liquid. He concealed honey at con- 

 siderable distances, and they in a very short time 

 detected the hidden treasure. The acuteness of 

 their sense of smell, in truth, is sufficiently proved 

 by their admirable skill in tracking out, over hill 

 and dale, the most fragrant flower-parterres and 

 bods of mountain-heath. The sense of hearing 

 has been denied to bees by many observers, while 

 others describe the antennae as their organs of 

 hearing. The probabilities are in favour of the 

 latter supposition. Noise, produced by the wings, 

 and varied to suit particular purposes, is well 

 known to be used as a mean of intercommunica- 

 tion; and Huber, though doubtful about the 

 faculty, avers that by a particular sound, emitted 

 from the mouth apparently, the queen will render 

 the whole hive silent and motionless in one 

 instant. A certain sound, too, heard in the hive 

 before swarming, is always followed by definite 

 consequences. Such facts as these go far to estab- 



lish the possession of hearing by bees ; as signals 

 by sound, made when the eyes could not detect 

 the movement attending their production, would 

 otherwise be valueless. The antennae certainly 

 possess a delicate sense of touch. Huber points 

 put a moonlight night as the best time for observ- 

 ing the uses of the antennae in this respect. The 

 bees, guarding against the intrusion of moths, 

 have not light enough to see fully, and they cir- 

 cumambulate their door with the antennae stretched 

 right before them. The instant a moth is felt, it 

 is destroyed. When the queen of a hive is lost, 

 the antennae form a curious means of spread- 

 ing intelligence. Bee after bee protrudes its 

 antennae, and crossing them with those of its 

 next neighbour, disseminates in this way the sad 

 news over the hive. Besides the antenna?, the 

 feelers have been shewn by experiment to possess 

 a considerable degree of sensibility, and to serve 

 in part as organs of touch. 



Drone. 



Queen. 



Worker. 



Such are the anatomical and physiological 

 characteristics of the common or working bee. 

 The duties of this order include almost the whole 

 business of the bee community. Hives differ 

 greatly, of course, in the number of their inmates, 

 taking them even at the same season. Some con- 

 tain but a few thousands ; others from twenty to 

 thirty, forty, and even fifty thousand. Of these 

 the drones compose but a thirtieth part, or little 

 more ; all the rest, with the exception of the queen, 

 are workers. 



Drones or Males. 



The drones or males differ considerably in out- 

 ward appearance from the workers : they are 

 bulkier and flatter in body, with a round head, a 

 shorter proboscis, and antennas with an additional 

 articulation ; they have no basket-cavity on their 

 hind-legs, and their abdomen contains the means 

 of secreting neither honey, wax, nor poison, while 

 the reproductive organs are there found instead. 

 They are called drones from the peculiarly loud 

 noise which they make with their wings. They live 

 but for the reproduction of the race, and when the 

 object of their existence is accomplished, they are 

 doomed to die. The workers, who have their own 

 winter-food and that of the coming young to pro- 

 vide, instinctively pass sentence of death at the 

 fitting time ; despatch the defenceless males with 

 their stings, and cast them forth from the hives, in 

 which, from their size and voracity, their presence 

 has now become a positive evil. A merciless 

 massacre of the drones regularly takes place at the 

 end of summer. 



The queen-bee is of larger size than either the 

 drone or the worker; she has an elongated^body, 



