310 SENSES OF BEES. 



the bee is an organ so considerably developed, as 

 to afford very strong evidence of its power of 

 discrimination in the selection of food. CUVIER 

 considers it to be one of the primary functions of 

 its organization. 



There is tolerably good presumptive evidence 

 that bees have a quick sense of HEARING, from 

 their being so sensibly affected by different sounds. 

 The voice of the queen, for instance, has according 

 to BONNER and HUBER an almost magical effect 

 upon them ; and the practice of making some 

 sort of noise at the time of hiving is founded upon 

 this opinion. HUBER is of opinion that if bees do 

 possess the sense of hearing it is differently modi- 

 fied from the same sense among beings of a higher 

 order. The consequences which ensue upon the 

 production of certain sounds either by themselves 

 or others, show that the vibrations of the air 

 make an impression upon some sense : HUBER, for 

 reasons which he does not well define, designates 

 it as a sense analogous to hearing, a something 

 acting in concert with and in aid of the antennae. 



LINNAEUS and BONNET thought that insects do 

 not possess the sense of hearing ; but I think they 

 were mistaken. I have just stated the effect 

 produced by the voice of a queen bee, under par- 

 ticular circumstances ; and there are other evi- 

 dences, equally strong, to show that insects possess 

 this faculty. One grasshopper will chirp in re- 



