182 
Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 
they are weak, and hardly able to crawl, they will throw out 
their probosces as far as possible to get to it, although the 
light is very faint. This last appears to arise more from smell 
than seeing. If some bees are let loose in a bee hive, and 
do not know from which house they came, they will take 
their stand upon the outside of some hive, or hives ; especially 
when the evening is coming on : whether this arises from the 
smell of the hives, or sound, I can hardly judge. 
Of the Voice of Bees. 
Bees may be said to have a voice. They are certainly ca- 
pable of forming several sounds. They give a sound when 
flying, which they can vary according to circumstances. One 
accustomed to bees', can immediately tell when a bee makes an 
attack, by the sound. These are probably made by the wings. 
They may be seen standing at the door of their hive, with 
the belly rather raised, and moving their wings, making a 
noise. But they produce a noise independent of their wings; 
for if a bee is smeared all over with honey, so as to make the 
wings stick together, it will be found to make a noise, which 
is shrill and peevish. To ascertain this further, I held a bee 
by the legs, with a pair of pincers ; and observed it then made 
the peevish noise, although the wings were perfectly still : I 
then cut the wings off, and found it made the same noise. I 
examined it in water, but it then did not produce the noise, 
till it was very much teased, and then it made the same kind 
of noise ; and I could observe the water, or rather the surface of 
contact of the water with the air at the mouth of an air-hole 
