10 



PHTSIOLOGT OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



" The sound that hees 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 Propri6taire d'Abeilles," Paris, 1875.) 



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

 the location of the organ is more difficult. The small holes 

 which were discovered on the surface of the antennae, have 

 been considered as organs of hearing by Lefebure (1838), 

 and by others later. Cheshire has noticed these small holes 

 in the six or seven last articulations of the antennae : holes 



PAKTS OF SUKFACB OP ANTENNA. 

 (Magnified 360 times. From Cheshire.) 



A , portion of front surface of one of the lower members of the flagellum 

 (worker or queen). «', smelling organ; /', feeling hair. 



B, portion of the side and hack of same (worker), h, ordinary hair; f, 

 conoid hair; '"' (auditory?) hollows. 



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



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



which become more numerous towards the end of the antenna, 

 SO that the last joint carries perhaps twenty. He, also, con- 

 siders these as the organs of hearing, especially because thej- 

 are larger in the drones, who may need to distinguish the 

 sounds of the queen's wings.* On this question, Prof. Cook, 

 in his "Bee-keepers' Guide," says: 



" N'o Apiarist has failed to notice the effect of various sounds 

 made by the bees upon their comrades of the hive, and how con- 



* The queens and the drones, in flight, each have a peculiar and easily dis- 

 tinguishable sound. 



