176 N. E. McINDOO 



squealing noise ceased for all time, and when the thorax of a live 

 bee was held gently between the fingers the tingling sensation 

 perceived indicated that these muscles vibrate very rapidly, 

 setting in motion the axillaries and membranes in the bases of 

 the wings. A microscopical examination of all the front wings 

 pulled off showed that every bee with wings thus detached was 

 able to squeal so long as one or two intact axillaries remained in 

 the thorax. 



Besides the buzzing and squealing noises made by bees, the 

 writer often heard a crackling sound while observing these insects 

 flying around an ahghting-board. He could not detect how this 

 sound is made, but imagined it produced by the wings striking 

 together accidentally. 



All attempts, except one, trying to get bees to respond to the 

 squealing of other bees failed. Or at least the bees exhibited no 

 reactions which could be attributed as signs of hearing. Never- 

 theless, one squealing bee was held in a hidden position a few 

 inches from an alighting-board; at once one of the many workers 

 on this board seemed to take notice and flew to the screen behind 

 which the squeaUng bee was hidden, and then it came immediately 

 to the squealing bee, which it began to examine by running around 

 it and smoothing its hair. 



A queen bee, resting on a comb with workers surrounding her, 

 when squeezed, squealed and the near-by workers became excited. 

 Such experiments really do not mean much, because too many 

 interfering factors cannot be eliminated. The original plan of 

 the writer was to carry on experiments in which he hoped to 

 be able to classify and to record on phonograph records the 

 various sounds heard in a hive of bees. If this were possible 

 he intended to reproduce these sounds and then to determine 

 whether or not bees respond to them. When he was transferred 

 from the division of Bee Culture, this line of experimentation was 

 discontinued, 



6. Morphology of sound-producing organ. Several hve worker 

 bees and drones were held under a binocular and the foUowina: 

 observations were recorded: When a bee is held by the legs it 

 buzzes continuously. The wings are held straight out at right 



