10 



PHTSIOLOGT OP THE HONET-BEE. 



the fact is verified now by daily occurrences in queen-rearing. 

 Huber adds : 



"How can we doubt now that the communication between 

 the workers and the queen was maintained by the touch of the 

 antennce?" 



24. That bees can hear, either by their antennas or some 

 other organ, few will now deny,' even although the sound of 

 a gun near the hive is entirely unnoticed by them. 



"Should some alien being watch humanity during a thun- 

 der-storm, he might quite similarly decide that thunder was to 

 us inaudible. Clap might follow clap without securing any ex- 

 ternal sign of recognition; yet let a little child with tiny voice 

 but shriek for help, and all would at once be awakened to 

 activity. So with the bee: sounds appealing to its instincts 

 meet with immediate response, while others evoke no wasted 

 emotion." (Cheshire.) 



Fig. 4. 



PARTS OF SURFACE OF ANTENNAE. 



(Magnified 360 times. Prom Cliestiire.) 



A, portion of front surface of one of the lower members of the flag- 

 ellum (worlcer or queen), s', smelling organ; f, feeling hair. 



B, portion of the side and back of same (worker), Ji, ordinary hair; 

 &, conoid hair; lio (auditory?) hollows. 



C, portion of one of the lower members of fiagellum (drone). 



D, portion of lower member of flagellum (back, worker or queen). 



"The sound that bees produce by the vibrating of their 

 wings is often the means of calling one another. If you place 

 a bee-hive in a very dark room, their humming will draw the 

 scattered bees together. In vain do you cover the hive, or 

 change its place, the bees will invariably go towards the spot 

 whence the sound comes." (Collin, "Guide du Proprietaire 

 d'Abeilles," Paris, 1875.) 



25. To prove that bees can hear is easy, but to determine 



