174 Beekeeping 



Antennal sense organs. 



Before the work on the olfactory pores, just described, it 

 was supposed that some of the sense organs on the antennae 

 are olfactory organs. Just which of the organs serve in this 

 way was not easy to decide. That these are sense organs 

 can scarcely be doubted, but in view of the elimination of 

 organs of smell from the antennae of bees, the only course at 

 present is to describe these organs and leave their function 

 to be decided by later experimental work. The accompany- 

 ing illustration (Fig. 91) shows the distribution and struc- 

 ture of these organs. These organs are known as (1) pore 

 plates, (2) pegs, (3) Forel's flasks, (4) pit pegs and (5) tac- 

 tile hairs. In all of them the sensory cells are covered 

 with chitin. 



Taste. 



To what extent bees have this sense has not been made 

 clear. In human experience, the senses of taste and smell 

 are so closely related that to determine these separately in 

 the bee will prove a somewhat difficult task. There are sen- 

 sory cells on the epipharynx, in the mouth cavity, on the 

 palpi and perhaps on other mouth parts, some of which may 

 prove to be organs of taste. The evidence that bees dis- 

 tinguish tastes is meager. It is well known that bees show 

 preferences in the material collected. They will for example 

 abandon honey-dew if nectar becomes plentiful, but this 

 action may not be due to a sense of taste. 



Touch. 



This sense is probably well developed, and it is safe to 

 assume that some of the antennal sense organs function in 

 this way. The use of the antennae by the bees suggests 

 this. Bees are remarkably sensitive to jars and respond 

 promptly when touched on various parts of the body. 

 Most of the hairs which cover the body are not sensory, 

 however. 



