110 



AMERICAN BEE JOURMAL. 



deal to do with cross bees, and also 

 much to do with their going away. Bees 

 are like boys — you make home pleasant 

 for them, and they will love it ; if yon 

 have good water for bees, plenty of salt, 

 pasturage, clean grounds, and plenty of 

 shade, the bees will stay at home. It 

 is not natural for the bees' home to be 

 in the hot sunshine all Summer. We 

 may control bees to a certain extent, but 

 God gave the little creatures an instinct 

 to know when they are well used. 

 Calkinsville, Mich. 



Do Bees Reason ? 



H. L. t,yn:s. 



The question properly is, "Do dumb 

 animals reason?" or "Are they gov- 

 erned by fixed laws ?" Some draw the 

 line of demarkation between the human 

 and brute at reason, claiming that its 

 presence denotes an immortal existence 

 —that mind is immortal. While I, 

 with others, claim that ability to reason 

 is possessed by part, if not all, animal 

 nature, the difference between the 

 human and animal is in the amount pos- 

 sessed, mankind having enough to make 

 them accountable. 



That animals receive knowledge with- 

 out learning from others, all will admit. 

 All will unite in calling this directly im- 

 parted knowledge, " instinct.'" But to 

 limit instinct to animals, and reason to 

 humanity, we object, because we find 

 both in man.' 



It is by instinct that the infant, when 

 lirst put to its mother's breast, can so 

 grasp it as to draw nourishment, while 

 its parents can scarcely do as much 

 aided by reason. Likewise, if dropped, 

 it will throw out its little hands to 

 catch, without reasoning of the danger 

 of falling. Thus we find both reason 

 and instinct in the same body — the one 

 has no more effect towards making the 

 possessor immortal, than does the other 

 to make mortal. 



If reason makes the human, then the 

 infant, idiot and insane must be ex- 

 cluded from that class. The infant only 

 has the germ, the idiot is blank, and in 

 the lunatic it is dethroned. 



Let me briefly offer the following 

 propositions : 



1. The brain is the seat of thought. 

 Aninuils have brains, therefore animals 

 can think. 



2. Memory is a faculty of the mind. 

 Bees have memory, therefore have a 

 mind to which it belongs. 



3. Instinct has no need of memory, 

 for it would act the same at all times 

 under the same circumstances, for in- 

 stinct is a fixed law. 



4. Memory is evidence of ability to 

 learn (for what the creature remembers, 

 is what it has learned). Ability to learn 

 necessitates a mind to receive it. Beer- 

 do remember. 



5. Bees individually acquire knowl- 

 edge in addition to that possessed by 

 bees in common, such as lay of land- 

 scape, where the flow of honey is, etc. 

 which shows another faculty. 



6. Bees have pain, which would be 

 unnecessary if not accompanied by rea- 

 son, saying, " I must avoid the cause." 



7. Instinct is limited to knowledge 

 given at birth, or else God continues to 

 directly impart knowledge suited to each 

 changing circumstance. Ai'e we willing 

 to acknowledge that each of our pets 

 possesses an "inner light," or are, in 

 other words, inspired ? 



8. Bees use jiw7sfme?if. Webster says, 

 " Reason is the faculty of judging, or its 

 due exercise." If it can be shown that 

 bees use judgment, our position is 

 proven. 



Notice that bees investigate and weigh 

 the advantages of their future home : 

 notice them in swarming time, examine 

 many places before selecting, and select 

 according to their judgment, which is 

 sometimes good and sometimes bad. If 

 selected by instinct, the conditions 

 would have to always be the same. 



The workers are divided into classes, 

 each class doing the work to which it is 

 best suited by age and ability. But 

 when there is a deficiency in any class, 

 a new division is made, taking from the 

 stronger and giving to the weaker. 

 Example : When nurses are needed, 

 field-workers take their place. This 

 shows reason, for by instinct they know 

 that their place is in the field, but when 

 needed, will work contrary to natural 

 inclination, when reason shows its im- 

 portance. 



When swarming, a division is made of 

 the inhabitants of the hive, not accord- 

 ing to age or fixed rules, for the ragged- 

 winged veteran flics side by side with the 

 untrained wing of youth. After cluster- 

 ing, another division is made, some leav- 

 ing as scouts to select a home, others 

 remaining. 



Brood-rearing is not governed alto- 

 gether by time of season, or amount of 

 stores. Some breed until all is gone; 

 others will check up until a honey-flow. 

 They first seem to think that there will 

 be a flow in time to save them ; the sec- 



