§11.] HEAD AND ORGANS OF SENSATION. 95 



these feelers the means of access, though nothing else 

 could be passed through, he saw them by hundreds 

 making their enquiries, and receiving answers, which 

 resulted in the whole remaining tranquil. The same 

 observer tried the experiment of depriving two queens 

 of their antennse and introducing both to the same hive, 

 when the bees did not appear to know their own from 

 the stranger ; but the moment he added a thi»d, still in 

 possession of these organs, they fell upon her with mur- 

 derous intent. Huber further points out that a moonlight 

 night is the best time for observing the use of the antennae 

 as feelers. The bees, if it is warm, circumambulate their 

 doors, to all appearance as vigilant sentinels, with these 

 appendages stretched right before them ; and woe to the 

 moth that comes within reach — the instant it is felt its 

 death follows. 



The sense of hearing has- been denied bees by some, 

 but against all evidence ; others contend that the seat of 

 this power is also situate in their antennae. The sounds 

 which bees emit, particularly at swarming time, are con- 

 clusive that they possess this faculty ; the only reasons 

 for arriving at an opposite conclusion seem to be, that 

 they are indifferent to most sounds, even' the loudest, 

 not emitted by themselves- — but even to this there is the 

 notable exception of the fright they evince at drumming 

 on their hives — and that no precise organ of hearing 

 can be found. Naturalists are now more united in the 

 opinion that the seat of hearing is here located. The 



