GliNERAL CIIAEAOTBRISTICS. 13 



29. Girard reports, as follows, an experiment on the ol- 

 factory organs of our little insecis: 



" While a bee was intently oocupieil sucking lioney, we brouglit 

 near tier head a pin dii)iied in ethei-. She at once showed symp- 

 toms of a great anxiety ; but an inodorous pin remained entirely 

 unnoticed." 



30. Whatever be the loeatiou of their olfactory organs, 

 they are unquestionably endowed with a marvelous power of 

 detecting the odor of honey in flowers or elsewhere. 



One day we discovered that some bees had entered our 

 honey-room, through the kej'-hole. We turned them out, 

 and stopped it up. Some time after, more bees had entered, 

 and we vainly searched for the crevice that admitted them. 

 Finally a feeble hum caused us to notice that they were 

 coming down the chimney to the fire-place, which was closed 

 by a screen. The wedge which held this screen having be- 

 come somewhat loose, the motion of the screen in windy 

 weather opened a hole juSt large enough for a bee to crawl 

 through. A few bees were waiting behind the screen, and 

 as soon as its motion allowed one to pass, she manifested 

 her joy by the humming which led to the discovery. These 

 bees, escaping with a load, when the door was opened, had 

 become customary and interested visitors. 



31. Every bee-keeper has noticed that their flight is 

 guided by the scent of flowers, though they be a mile or more 

 away. In the city of Keokuk, situated on a hill in a curve 

 of the Mississippi, the bees cross the river, a mile wide, 

 to find the flowers on the opposite bank. 



32. "Not only do bees have a very acute sense of smell, but 

 they add to this faculty the remembrance of sensations. Here is 

 an example : We had placed some honey on a window. Bees 

 soon crowded upon it. Then the honey was taken away, and the 

 outside shutters were closed and remained so the whole winter. 

 When, in Spring, the shutters were opened again, the bees came 

 back, although there was no honey on the window. No doubt, 

 they remembered that they got honey there before. So, an inter- 



