Sensory Discrimination: Hearing 125 



sounds of our own breathing and heart-beats, and that there 

 is no more evidence that bees can hear them than that we 

 can hear these sounds in our own case (52). Forel is 

 positive that insects in general cannot hear (231). Von 

 Buttel-Reepen, on the other hand, who knows bees thor- 

 oughly, thinks that the sense of hearing plays a considerable 

 part in their life. He believes that the disturbance pro- 

 duced by the loss of a queen is communicated to the whole 

 hive by the peculiar wailing noise made by some members 

 and instinctively imitated by the others, and that this 

 disturbance is calmed by a similar dissemination of the 

 " happy humming" produced on her restoration hearing 

 playing a more important part than smell. The starting 

 of a swarm, he thinks, is also largely a matter of sound 

 communication. The process begins by the coming out 

 of certain bees which push in among the bees hanging at the 

 entrance of the hive and stir them up to swarming by mak- 

 ing sounds. The " swarm-tone" is peculiar and often 

 disturbs the inhabitants of neighboring hives that are not 

 ready to swarm. Also, a swarm can be guided to a new 

 dwelling if a few bees are taken there ; they call the others 

 by loud humming. If during this process the new hive is 

 moved, the bees will go on for a few moments] in the 

 direction in which they started, then slowly turn, guided by 

 the tone. A few may keep on in the original direction. 

 We may look with suspicion, however, upon von Buttel- 

 Reepen's suggestion that these latter, having passed be- 

 yond hearing of the call, are guided by the recollection 

 of the tone they heard at first! He refers also to the 

 shrill noise made by the young queens ready to swarm, 

 and to the peculiar uneasiness produced when a strange 

 queen is being attacked, and resulting, he thinks, from 

 her "cries of pain" (115). 



