64 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



whereiu its atteutiou is directed to objects close 

 at baud. 



Feeling or Touch. — The organs of this sense 

 are supposed, v.ith reason, to reside in the an- 

 tenna; and palpi or feelers, particularly in the 

 former. Huber concludes that the antennos 

 supply the want of sight in the interior of the 

 hive, and that solely by their means they are 

 enabled to construct their combs in darkness, 

 pour their honey into the magazines, feed the 

 j'oung, judge of their age and necessities, and 

 recognize their queen. Though it does by no 

 means appear clear that the bees are devoid of 

 sight when employed in their indoor operations 

 — though, on the contrary, there is reason to 

 believe, as already stated, that the stemmata or 

 ocelli serve as orbs of vision — this naturalist is 

 probably not wrong in ascribing to the anten- 

 na; an important share iu these operations. 

 That the bees use them as a means of commu- 

 nication and recognition, seems readily admit- 

 ted by apiarians. When a hive has lost its 

 queen, the event, as may well be supposed, 

 causes a high degree of agitation iu the colony; 

 the disturbed workers, Avho have first, by some 

 unknown means, acquired the knowledge of 

 this public calamity, soon quit their immediate 

 circle, and, "meeting their companions," says 

 Huber, "the antenna; are reciprocally crossed, 

 and they slightly strike them." The commu- 

 nication made by these means is quickly dis- 

 seminated, and in a few minutes the whole col- 

 ony is in a slate of agitation and distress. Of 

 the antenna; being employed as instruments of 

 recognition, the same naturalist gives a striking 

 instance, which our limits prohibit us from quot- 

 ing in his own words. Suffice to say here, that by 

 means of a wire grating, wide enough only to 

 admit the circulation of air, inserted in the mid- 

 dle of the hive, he separated the queen from 

 the half of her subjects, and ascertained that 

 neither sight, hearing, nor smell made the near 

 neighborhood of their sovereign known to tliem, 

 for they proceeded to rear a new queen from 

 the larva of a worker, as if the other were irre- 

 coverably lost. But when he substituted a grat- 

 ing wide enough to allow the transmission of 

 the antenna;, all went on as usual, for the bees 

 Boon ascertained by these organs the existence 

 of their queen.* 



Another important use which the bees make 

 of this organ deserves notice. "Let us follow 

 their operations by moonshine, when they keep 

 watch at the opening of the hive to prevent the 

 intrusion of the moths then on the wing. It is 

 curious to observe how artfully the moth knows 

 how to profit to the disadvantage of the bees, 

 which require much light for seeing objects, 

 and the precautions taken by the latter in re- 

 connoitering, and expelling so dangerous an en- 

 emy. Like vigilant sentinels, they patrol round 

 their habitations with their antenna; stretched 

 out straight before them, or turning to right and 

 left; woe to the moth if it cannot escape their 

 contact; it tries to glide along between the 

 guards, carefully avoiding their flexible organs, 



*This is not conclu.sive evidence, as the workers wiU con- 

 struct roy.-il cells at times, when their queeo is simply ooa- 

 fiuod in a oago in their hl'^'o. 



as if aware that its safety depended on its cau- 

 tion." 



Taste. — In bees, taste appears on a slight 

 view, to diflPcr most materially from that sense 

 in man; and because with all their eager fond- 

 ness for the rich nectar of flowers, they are fre- 

 quently detected in lapping the impure fluid 

 from corrupted marshes, it has been hastily 

 concluded that their sense of taste is very de- 

 fective. Huber thought it the least perfect of 

 the bee senses, and instances their gathering ho- 

 ney even from poisonous flowers, and regaling 

 themselves with foetid liquids. Now, with def- 

 erence to this distinguished observer, it may be 

 permitted, perhaps, to defend our favorites 

 from so injurious an imputation. "We have 

 prima fade evidence of the delicacy of their 

 taste in their eager activity in collecting their 

 delicious stores of honey secreted by the most 

 fragrant flowers; and such is their ardor in these 

 oiierations, that they defy the elements when 

 the honey season is at its height, and, by lay- 

 ing aside their usual fearof bad weather boldly 

 encounter wind and rain to get at their favorite 

 fluid. Huber acknowledges that when "the lime 

 tree and black grain blossom, they brave the 

 rain, depart before sunrise, and return later 

 than ordinary. But their activity relaxes after 

 the flowers have faded; and when the enamel 

 adorning the meadows has fallen under the 

 scythe, the bees remain in their dwelling, how- 

 ever brilliant the sunshine." Wherefore have 

 they not, in this decline of the flowering season, 

 recourse to the foul marsh and slimy pool, which 

 they are charged with frequenting? Simply be- 

 cause the purposes for which they did frequent 

 these unwholesome liquids have already been 

 answered. The truth is, the bees have recourse 

 in spring, but generally speaking in spring only, 

 to dunghills and stagnant marshes, for the sake 

 of the salts with which they are impregnated, 

 and wliich their instinct teaches them are ad- 

 vantageous to their health after their long win- 

 ter conlinemcnt. If we place before the bees a 

 portion of honey, and a portion of liquid drawn 

 from a corrupt source, their choice will com- 

 pletely vindicate the purity of their taste and 

 their power of discrimination in the selection 

 of their food. 



It is not meant to be denied, however, that 

 the sense of taste in bees is ever at fault. This 

 would be going in the face of some well authen- 

 ticated instances of honey being injured, and 

 even rendered dangerous, in consequence of the 

 bees feeding on noxious plants. Towards the 

 close of the year, when flowers become scarce, 

 and in those parts of the country where alders 

 abound, and where onions and leeks are culti- 

 vated on a large scale and allowed to run to 

 seed, the bees, from taste, or from necessity, or 

 from an anxiety to complete their winter stores, 

 are seen to feed on the blossoms of these plants, 

 which communicate to the honey a very disa- 

 greeable flavor. But this is not all. The fact 

 stated by Xenophon, in the retreat of the Ten 

 Thousand, and confirmed by Diodorus Siculus, 

 proves that there are plants in Asia Minor which 

 give to the honey not only disagreeahle, but 

 jloisonous qualities. He tolls us that the sol- 



