THE HONEYBEE AND BEES IN GENERAL 



247 



by ocelli at only very short distances, i.e. the bee is nearsighted 

 when only the ocelli are used. 



SMELL. There seems to be no doubt but that the principal 

 organs of smell in 

 bees are situated 

 on the antennae. 

 Other parts of the 

 body also contain 

 organs which have 

 been considered 

 by some to be 

 concerned with 

 the perception of 

 odors. The struc- 



tures supposed to 



FIG. 139. Taste pits (/?) on the epipharynx of the 

 honeybee. (From Packard after Wolff.) 



carry on the func- 

 tion of smell are shown in longitudinal section in Figure 138 at s. 

 They are slight hollows covered by a thin 

 layer of chitin and provided at their bases 

 with a cell supplied with nerve fibers. 

 The number of smell hollows varies for 

 different members of the bee colony; the 

 queen possesses about 1600 on each an- 

 tenna, the worker 2400, and the drone 

 37,800. This enormous number on the 

 drone probably aids him in finding the 

 queen during the nuptial flight (198). 



TASTE. Certain structures situated 

 near the mouth of the honeybee have been 

 described as taste organs. The epipharynx 

 (Fig. 139) contains a number of sensory 

 cavities which are considered gustatory 

 by some investigators. Taste setae are 

 also present near the end of the tongue (Fig. 140, Gs.). 

 HEARING. The antennae bear a large number of pits (Fig. 



'IG. 140. Taste hairs on 

 tongue of bee. Gs., 

 taste hairs; L, bou- 

 ton. (From Pack- 

 ard after Will.) 



