42 The Honey-Makers 



A bee does little credit to these three eyes when stum- 

 bling about in search of something almost within reach. If 

 its hive is moved only a few feet during its absence, or if it 

 misses the alighting board and drops to the ground, it often 

 wastes a great deal of time bustling about in what seems a 

 very aimless manner before it finds itself again. 



Between the hexagonal facets of the compound eyes, and 

 slanting in the direction towards which the eye curves, so as 

 not to obstruct vision, are hairs. 



Why the bee should have hairs on its eyes may not be 

 apparent until one remembers the unprotected state of 

 those lidless organs. And also the fact that 

 the eyes are constantly in danger of becom- 

 ing dusted over by various substances as the 

 bee dives its head into flower-cups, explores 

 the waxen cells of its hive, and flies abroad 

 on windy days. 

 r, . r^ , It would not do for these eyes to be in- 



Section or bee s eye. ■' 



jured or obscured in any way, and the hairs 

 that cover them are protective, and from their structure 

 no doubt also sensory, so they form the body-guard of 

 the eyes, keeping them from all harm. 



Eyelids would be a great inconvenience to a bee ; eye-hairs 

 serve every purpose and offer no inconvenience whatever. 



As to what a bee sees with its eyes, and how the objects 

 familiar to us appear to the owner of these numerous 

 optical organs, one is not in a position to state. 



It is well known that bees distinguish colors, and Sir 

 John Lubbock goes so far as to assure us that honey-bees 

 prefer blue, he having discovered this by alternately alluring 

 and deceiving them with slips of colored paper upon which 

 were — or were not — drops of honey. He found his bees 

 investigating the blue slips before trying other colors, and 

 following the blue about when it was moved from place to 



