58 THE SENSES OF BEES. 



honey This is a striking instance of the delicacy of 

 smell in these insects, as not only was the honey 

 quite concealed from view, but its odorous effluvia 

 from its being covered and disguised in the experi- 

 ment, could not be much diffused. We repeated 

 successfully the same experiment. In fact, after the 

 first trial, we had no doubt of the issue of the second ; 

 for if once the sense of smell in the Bees ascertained 

 the existence and situation of the honey, we had seen 

 enough of their ingenuity in other cases, not to doubt 

 their success in obtaining entrance. In endeavouring 

 to ascertain the precise situation of the organ, there 

 is considerable difficulty, and our curiosity cannot 

 easily be gratified without some sacrifice of bee-life. 

 Huber's experiment to ascertain this point, is full of 

 interest, and we recommend a perusal of the account 

 of it as detailed in his work. He dipped a pencil in 

 oil of turpentine, a substance very disagreeable to 

 insects, and presented it to the thorax, the stigmata, 

 the abdomen, the antennae, the eyes, and the pro- 

 boscis, without the bee betraying the slightest symp- 

 tom of uneasy feeling. It was otherwise when he 

 held it to the mouth ; it started, left the honey by 

 ivhich it had been enticed, and was on the point of 

 taking flight when the pencil was withdrawn. He 

 next filled the mouth with flour-paste, when the in- 

 sect seemed to have lost the sense of smell altogether. 

 Honey did not attract it, nor did offensive odours, 

 even the formidable turpentine, annoy it. The organ 

 of smell, therefore, appears to reside in the mouth, 

 or in the parts depending on it. To those who 



