154 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
ascertained. The strong, curved jaws, working 
sideways, are doubly interesting as the main 
implements used in the preparation of the wax, 
and largely in the comb-building. But the eyes 
and the long, flail-like antenne rivet attention 
first. Whether the bee was made for her life, or 
the life—imposed on her by inexorable conditions 
—made the bee what she is to-day, the extra- 
ordinary adaptation of her physique to her en- 
vironment is beyond all question. The great 
compound eyes, with their thousands of facets 
each pointing in a slightly different direction, are 
obviously made for wide and distant outlooks. 
It is with these eyes that the bee finds her way 
out and home over miles of country. In the 
worker the compound eyes occupy the whole 
sides of the head, but in the drone they are much 
larger, and meet entirely at the top. Thus, 
dallying in the sunshine, he is able the while to 
keep the whole arc of the sky under scrutiny, 
ready at an instant’s notice to take up the love- 
challenge of the young queens. 
But these large multiple eyes of the bee are of 
little use to her at close quarters, or in the deep 
twilight of the hive. For indoor use, and for near 
vision, she has three other eyes, containing a 
single lens each, and set in her forehead just 
above her antenne. The popular belief, that the 
honey-bee carries on her busy life, and elaborate 
enterprises in complete darkness, is mainly a 
