302 SENSES OF BEES. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



SENSES OF BEES. 



IN considering the phaenomena of insect sensation, 

 little advantage can be derived from analogy ; the 

 physiology of the senses of bees, and other insects, 

 is therefore but imperfectly understood. Still 

 they must have credit for the possession of senses, 

 however differently modified from those of man. 

 Some of their senses may open avenues to know- 

 ledge, with w T hich he must ever remain unac- 

 quainted. Arts which he is obliged to attain 

 by long labour and great diligence, they seem to 

 derive from nature, through the medium no doubt 

 of organs so exquisitely fine, as to elude not only 

 his search, but even his conception. 



Of all the senses of bees, none appears to be so 

 acute as that of SMELL. It is this which, in all 

 probability, enables them to distinguish, not only in- 

 dividuals of their own species, but one human being 

 from another ; and also to discover honey-dews 

 and honey-bearing flowers, at a very considerable 

 distance ; (honey of all odorous substances, being 

 the most attractive to them :) it may tend likewise 

 to cause that neatness which they observe in 

 themselves and in their habitations. An experi- 

 ment, made by HUBER, demonstrates that they 



