THE BEE. 



and cold, commencing their excursions before sunrise, and con- 

 tinuing their work much later than their customary hours. But 

 when the flowers rich in pollen and nectar prevail in less abund- 

 ance, and when the scythe has swept away the flowers which 

 enamelled the fields, even the brightest sunshine and the warmest 

 days fail to attract the industrious population to go abroad. 



170. Of all the senses of the bee, that of smell appears to be the 

 most acute. Certain odours have an irresistible attraction for 

 the insect, while others are in the same degree repugnant to it. 

 Of the former, as might naturally be expected, honey is by far 

 the most exciting. It was supposed by Huber, not without much 

 probability, that the bee is attracted to this or that flower, not 

 by its colour, form, or other visible properties, but by the odour 

 of the nectar it contains. To test this experimentally, Huber put 

 some honey in a box, so as to be invisible from the outside, and 

 placing it in the neighbourhood of his hives, found that the bees 

 crowded round it in a few minutes, finding their way to the honey 

 through a small hole left for the purpose. 



171. He next made several small entrance holes in a box con- 

 taining honey, but covered each hole with a sort of card valve, such 

 that it would be possible for a bee to raise it and enter the box. 

 The box thus prepared was placed at two hundred yards from the 

 hives. In half an hour the bees found it, crowded in great 

 numbers on every side of it, examining carefully every part, as 

 if to seek for an entrance. At length, finding the valves, they 

 set to work at them, and never ceased until they succeeded in 

 raising them, when they entered and took possession of the spoil. 



How exquisitely acute must be their olfactory organs will be 

 apparent, when it is considered that, in this case, the box and 

 valves must have confined very nearly the whole effluvia of the 

 honey. 



172. The following remarkable proof of the tenacity of memory 

 with which the bee is endowed, is given by Huber. A supply of 

 honey had been placed in autumn upon an open window. The 

 bees had the habit of coming to feast upon it. This honey being 

 removed, the window was closed, and remained closed during the 

 winter. In the following spring the bees again found their way 

 to the same window, expecting again to find a supply there, 

 although none had been placed there. It is evident in this case, 

 that the insect must have been guided by its memory alone, and 

 that it was capable of retaining a recollection of places and cir- 

 cumstances for several months. 



173. Huber made several curious and interesting experiments to 

 determine the seat of the sense of smell. If, as was natural to 

 expect, it were situate in some of the appendages of the mouth, 



