390 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 



corresponding perhaps to senses and properties of mat- 

 ter wholly unknown to ourselves. And such intuition 

 well might lodge in the mysterious antennae containing 

 in the case of the worker, according to Cheshire's calcula- 

 tion, 12,000 tactile hairs and 5,000 'smell-hollows', where- 

 with they probe and fathom the darkness. For the mu- 

 tual understanding of the bees is not confined to their 

 habitual labours ; the extraordinary also has a name and 

 place in their language, as is proved by the manner in 

 which news, good or bad, normal or supernatural, will at 

 once spread in the hive ; the loss or return of the mother, 

 for instance, the entrance of an enemy, the intrusion of a 

 strange queen, the approach of a band of marauders, the 

 discovery of treasure, etc." 



It has been shown that bees take advantage of every 

 invention and discovery which they may run across and 

 that they use their building material or food to the very 

 best advantage. In reference to this matter, Mr. Maeter- 

 link has also the following to say : 



"Scarcely had it been formulated when another natur- 

 alist, Andrew Knight, having covered the bark of some 

 diseased tree with a kind of cement made of turpentine 

 and wax, discovered that his bees were entirely renounc- 

 ing the collection of propolis and exclusively using this 

 unknown matter, which they had quickly tested and 

 adopted and found in abundant quantities ready prepared 

 in the vicinity of their dwelling. 



And indeed, one-half of the science and practise of 

 apiculture consists in giving free range to the spirit, of 

 initiative possessed by the bees and in providing their 

 enterprising intellect with opportunities for veritable dis- 

 coveries and veritable inventions. Thus, for instance, to 

 aid in the rearing of the larvae and nymphs, the bee- 

 keeper will scatter a certain quantity of flour close to the 



