THE SENSES OF BEES. 
47 
them.” The communication made by these means 
is quickly disseminated., and in a few minutes the 
whole colony is in a state of agitation and distress. 
Of the antennae being employed as instruments of 
recognition, the same naturalist gives a striking in- 
stance, which our limits prohibit us from giving in 
his own words ; suffice it to say here, that by means 
of a wire grating, wide enough only to admit the cir- 
culation of air, inserted in the middle of the hive, he 
separated the queen from the half of her subjects, 
and ascertained that neither sight, hearing, nor smell 
made the near neighbourhood of their sovereign known 
to them, for they proceeded to rear a new queen from 
the larva of a worker, as if the other were irrecoverably 
lost. But when he substituted a grating wide enough 
to allow the transmission of the antennae, all went on 
as usual, for the bees soon ascertained by these organs 
the existence of their queen. 
Another important use which the bees make of this 
organ of touch deserves notice. “ Let us follow their 
operations by moonshine, when they keep watch at 
the opening of the hive to prevent the intrusion of 
moths then on the wing. It is curious to observe how 
artfully the moth knows to profit to the disadvantage 
of the bees which require much light for seeing objects, 
and theprecautions taken by the latter in reconnoitering 
and expelling so dangerous an enemy. Like vigilant 
sentinels, the}' patrole around their habitations with 
their antennae stretched out straight before them, or 
turning to right and left ; woe to the moth if it can- 
not escape their contact; it tries to glide along between 
