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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



it •would be very satisfactory to have his accu- 

 racy in this particuhir point contirmed l)y some 

 other observer. Taking it for granted that the 

 sense of hearing does exist in bees, where are 

 we to look for the situation of the organ? Nat- 

 uralists are not agreed on this point, but the 

 majority seem to vest it in the antenna;. Kirby 

 and Spence notice the analogy borne by anten- 

 na" to the ears of vertebrate animals, such as 

 their corresponding in number, and standing 

 out .of the head; and observe that no other or- 

 gan has been found which can be supposed 

 to represent the ear. In that case this ap- 

 pendage of the head of the bee must be re- 

 garded as a compound organ, exercising the 

 functions of both Marine) and touch. It has 

 already been hinted that some observers have 

 regarded it as an organ of vision; and Ave shall 

 afterwards find that there are those who look 

 upon it as an organ of smell. In this deficiency 

 of precise knowledge on the subject, we m^iy, 

 perhaps, rest satisfied with the opinion of Kirliy, 

 that "the antenna; by a peculiar structure, may 

 collect notices from the atmosphere, receive 

 pulses or vibrations, and communicate them to 

 the sensorium, which communications, though 

 not precisely to be called hearing., niay answer 

 the same purpose." The same author gives an 

 anecdote of another insect, which goes to prove 

 that the antennae are indeed the organs of this 

 sense: "A little moth was reposing on my win- 

 dow, I made a quiet, not loud, but distinct 

 noise; the nearest antennae moved towards me; 

 I repeated the noise at least a dozen times, and 

 it was followed every time by the same motion 

 of that organ, till at length the insect being 

 alarmed, became agitated and violent in its mo- 

 tions. In this instance it could not be touch., 

 since the antenna; were not applied to a surface, 

 but directed towards the quarters from which 

 the sound came, as if to listen." 



Smelling. — Of all their senses, that of smell 

 in bees is the most acute. Attracted by the fra- 

 grance of flowers, we see them winging their 

 eager way to a very considerable distance, in a 

 straight, undeviating course, and in the very 

 teeth of a strong wind, in searchof those plants 

 which promise an abundant honey harvest. 

 Very striking proofs of the acuteness of this 

 sense may l)c observed within the limits of the 

 apiary. Early in spring when the bee-master 

 begins feeding his colony, he has reason to 

 marvel at the instantaneous notice which this 

 organ gives them of his approach. Amongst 

 his hives, though from the chilliness of a spring 

 morning, not a bee is seen stirring out of doors, 

 he has not time to fill the feeding-trough from 

 the vessel in his hand, before he is surrounded 

 by hundreds; and in the space of five minutes 

 or less, the float-board of every trough is cov- 

 ered with a dense mass of eager feeders. In 

 feeding a newly lodged swarm during unfavor- 

 able weather in summer, it is curious to observe 

 through the glass, in pushing the sliding trough 

 which runs flush with the floor, the motionless 

 hemispherical mass at the ceiling of the hive, 

 becoming instantaneously elongated, and chang- 

 ed into the form of an inverted pyramid, having 

 its. apex Testing on the 'float-board, while a score 



or two of stragglers, who have in the confusion 

 been separated or have fallen from the miss 

 above, hasten along the floor, snuffing the grate- 

 ful fragrance, ranging themselves in a line on 

 the edge of the trough, and eagerly plunging 

 their probosces into the liquid. It is to their ex- 

 qvfisitc sense of smell, also, in all likelihood, 

 that we must attribute their capability of dis- 

 tinguishing friend from foe an^oncr their own 

 species. If a stranger-hee by mist;^kc enter a 

 hive, and this sometimes happens in conse- 

 quence of some sliglit alteration in the arrange- 

 ment of the apiary, his close resemblance to his 

 fellow insects will not secure him from an im- 

 mediate attack from all quarters; he is detected 

 l)y a more subtle sense than vision, and instant 

 flight alone can save him. Huber, to whose re- 

 searches we are so much indebted in regard to 

 the senses of bees, made some very conclusive 

 experiments on that of smell, all of which we 

 have repeated with precisely the same results. 

 Like his, our first experiment was to ascertain 

 the acutenes of the sense. We concealed a 

 vessel with honey behind the shutters of an 

 open window, near the apiary. In our experi- 

 ment, a small* box containing a portion of ho- 

 ney mingled with ale, and covered with a piece 

 of wire gauze, was placed at a distance of a hun- 

 dred yards from the apiary, close to the bottom 

 of a hedge, where it was by no means conspic- 

 uous. In a quarter of an hour, a bee alighted 

 on the box, and in a few minutes more, while 

 this bee was eagerly exploring and striving to 

 gain an entrance, several more joined it. The 

 can was then raised and admission given; and 

 after the first visitors had gone off with a belly- 

 full, the feeders increased in the space of an 

 hour to hundreds. 



To diversify the trial, Huber procured four 

 small boxes, to the apertures of which, large 

 enough to admit a bee, he fixed shutters or 

 valves, made of card paper, which it was ne- 

 cessary should be forced open in order to gain 

 admission. Honey being put into them, they 

 were placed at the distance of two hundred 

 paces from the apiary. In half an hour, bees 

 were seen arriving ; carefully traversing the 

 boxes, they soon discovered the openings, 

 pressed against the valves, and reached the 

 honey. Tliis is a striking instance of the deli- 

 cacy of smell in these insects, as not only was 

 the honey quite concealed from view, but its 

 odorous effluvia, from being covered and dis- 

 guised in the experiment, 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 of their success in obtaining 

 entrance. In endeavoring to ascertain the pre- 

 cise situation of the organ, there is considera- 

 ble difficulty, and our curiosity cannot be easily 

 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 sub- 



