GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. i] 
This question Mr. Cheshire .answers, as will be seen fur- 
ther, in considering the antenne. (26)* 
12. The three small eyes, ocelli, are thought by Maurice 
Girard (‘‘ Les Abeilles,’’ Paris, 1878), and others, to have 
a microscopic function, for sight at short distances. In the 
hive, the work is performed in the dark, and possibly (7) 
these eyes are fitted for this purpose. 
13. Their return from long distances, either to their 
hive or to the place where they have found food, proves that 
bees can see very far. Yet, when the entrance to their hive 
has been changed, even only a few inches, they cannot 
readily find it. 
Their many eyes looking in different directions, enable 
them to guide themselves by the relative position of objects, 
hence they always return to the identical spot they left. 
14. If we place a colony in a forest where the rays of 
the sun can scarcely penetrate, the bees, at their exit from 
the hive, will fly several times around their new abode, then, 
selecting a small aperture through the dense foliage, they 
will rise above the forest, in quest of the flowers scattered 
in the fields. And like children in a nutting party, they 
will gather their crop here and there, a mile or more away, 
without fear of being lost or unable to return. 
As soon as their honey-sack is full, or, if a threatening 
cloud passes before the sun, they start for home, without 
any hesitation, and, among so many trees, even while the 
wind mingles the leafy twigs, they find their way ; so perfect 
is the organization of their composite eyes. 
15. Bees can notice and remember colors. While ex- 
perimenting on this faculty, we placed some honey on small 
pieces of differently colored paper. A bee alighted on a 
yellow paper, sucked her load and returned to her hive. 
© The reader will readily understand that the numbers between parentheses 
refer to the paragraphs bearing those numbers. This is for the convenience of 
the student. 
