PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 195 
each other, are perpendicular to the abdomen, so as to 
give that part considerable elevation. 
Maraldi, and after him Reaumur, long ago noticed 
this action of the bees; but they attributed to it an ef- 
fect the reverse of that which it really produces; the 
former imagining it to occasion directly the high tempe- 
rature of the hive, and the latter indirectly*. It was re- 
served for Huber to discover the true cause of it; and 
from him the chief of what I have to say upon the sub- 
ject will be derived >. 
During the summer a certain number of workers—for 
itis to the workers solely that this office is committed — 
may always be observed vibrating their wings before the 
entrance of their hive; and the observant apiarist will 
find upon examination, that a still greater number are 
engaged within it in the same employment. All those 
thus circumstanced that stand without, turn their head 
to the entrance; while those that stand within, turn their 
back to it. The station of these ventilators is upon the 
floor of the hive. They are usually ranged in files, that 
terminate at the entrance; and sometimes, but not con- 
stantly, form so many diverging rays, probably to give 
room for comers and goers to pass. ‘The number of 
ventilators in action at the same time varies: it seldom 
much exceeds twenty, and is often more circumscribed. 
The time also that they devote to this function is longer 
or shorter according to circumstances: some have been 
observed to continue their vibrations for nearly half an 
hour without resting, suspending the action for not more 
than an instant, as it should seem to take breath. When 
« Reaum. v. 672. » Huber, ii. 338— 362. 
