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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Judging from Your Experience, 

 Can Bee§ Hear? 



Query 845.— Judging from your own ex- 

 perience, do you think that bees can hear ? I 

 want to settle a dispute, and so desire the 

 opinions of the leaders.— Norma. 



Yes. — R. L. Taylor. 



No. — G. M. Doolittle. 



Yes. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



Yes. — Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



I think they can. — H. D. Cutting. 



I am very sure they can. — M. Mahin. 



I don't know. I think they do. — C. C. 

 Miller. 



Most assuredly, bees do hear. — E. 

 France. 



Yes, sir. Their sense of hearing is 

 acute. — J. P. H. Brown. 



Yes, I think they must either hear or 

 feel sound. —Eugene Secor. 



I am not sure on this point, but I 

 think they can. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



I am satisfied that they can, judging 

 from observation alone. In fact, I am 

 positive of this. — W. M. Barnum. 



Yes ; the different notes made by 

 them, such as in robbing, anger, etc., 

 fully convinces me on that point. — C. H. 

 Dibbern. 



Yes. They certainly can hear some 

 sounds very plainly, even though some 

 noises seem entirely unnoticed by them. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



I have no idea. It may be I know or 

 believe less about it than I otherwise 

 would, because I don't care, as it is a 

 point not vital to getting money out of 

 bees. — James Heddon. 



I think they can hear. Some scientists 

 say they have no organs of hearing. But 

 from long and careful observation, I am 



satisfied that they are susceptible to the 

 vibrations of sound. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Yes. If you don't believe it, just 

 squeeze one so as to make it squeal 

 from being hurt, and have it near others. 

 If they don't hurry to the rescue they 

 are different from mine. — A. B. Mason. 



I have no doubt they can hear, but I 

 don't know of any poof that can be of- 

 fered on either side of the question. I 

 don't think a dispute on the question 

 can be settled. It is wholly a question 

 of belief.— J. E. Pond. 



If you have an ugly hybrid colony, 

 just invite your disputant to hit the hive 

 a good crack with a club. He will prob- 

 ably soon find out. Bees may not hear 

 the same as we do, but they always seem 

 to know quick enough when their hive 

 is rudely disturbed. — G. L. Tinker. 



That bees " hear " according to their 

 nature and organism, as certainly as 

 other animals do, there can be no ra- 

 tional dispute about it. That such a 

 question as this has been admitted into 

 the range of doubt and dispute, argues 

 bad for the discerning powers of those 

 who press the question. — G. W. Dem- 

 aree. 



Not as we hear, for they have no such 

 organs. Their tactile or touch sense is 

 very acute. Thus a slight jar or tremor 

 arouses them at once. So delicate is 

 this sense that a special tap on the hive 

 irritates and alarms them more than a 

 peal of thunder that makes the whole 

 earth shake. The first, most concerns 

 their welfare. — A. J. Cook. 



In the ordinary meaning of the term, 

 I do not think that bees can hear. But 

 just as there are noises that are percep- 

 tible to some persons in other ways than 

 by the use of their ears, so may some of 

 the vibrations that cause sound — and 

 perhaps some that do not, to our ears — 

 be perceptible to the delicate organism 

 of the bee. — James A. Green. 



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