1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



813 



understood by every other member of such 

 species. The common cricket, I am sure, 

 can hear. When a boy, hving in the log 

 home in New York, it was common in the 

 evening to see the crickets come from under 

 the hearthstones, seemingly enjoying the 

 opportunity of giving us a free concert. It 

 was an interesting and amusing exhibition 

 to me, the appearance of these black shiny 

 little choristers, arranging themselves to 

 give us a serenade. I often amused myself 

 trying to imitate their sounds, which seldom 

 failed to arrest their attention; therefore I 

 think they can hear, and it is quite evident 

 to me that the honey-bee can also. Whoev- 

 er doubts it, let him attempt to lift a frame 



DR. LYON'S CAPTURE. — SEE NEXT PAGE. 



of comb from a populous colony where it is 

 necessary to push aside the bees in order to 

 get hold of the ends of the top-bar, and by 

 carelessness or haste he pinches a bee so 

 that it squeaks, and observe how quickly 

 other bees hasten to the rescue. Don't take 

 my word for it, but try it yourself. If you 

 are not presented with arguments sharp 

 enough, that bees hear sound, please let 

 me know. Why the quack, quack of the 

 young queen as she passes over the comb, 

 and the response of her rival if they 

 have not the sense of hearing? I have 

 witnessed this same phenomenon while 

 holding for observation a frame of comb 

 containing some bees, queen, and queen- 

 cells a few days 

 after a prime 

 sVarm had 

 eme r ge d . It 

 was extremely 

 interesting t o 

 witness the un- 

 easy, excited ac- 

 tio n s of the 

 queen as she 

 passed along 

 over the comb, 

 putting her head 

 into a cell here 

 and there, and 

 uttering the pe- 

 culiar sound, 

 something like a 

 very much sup- 

 pressed konk of 

 the wild goose; 

 then the re- 

 sponse of the im- 

 prisoned queen 

 in the cell, and 

 the clustering of 

 the bees to pre- 

 vent results 

 which wou Id 

 prove disastrous 

 to carrying out 

 their plans. The 

 next day a swarm 

 issued as I ex- 

 pected. Who 

 among practical 

 bee- keepers 

 thinks that bees 

 do not hear? 

 Will brother 

 Bigelow tell us 

 what he thinks 

 about the mat- 

 ter? 



Lake Geneva, 

 Wis. 



[Mr. Whitney 

 is entirely cor- 

 rect in stating 

 that when one 

 pinches a bee so 

 that it "squeals" 

 its companions 

 will rush to the 



