58 
THE SENSES OF BEES. 
honey. This is a striking instance of the delicacy of 
smell in these insects, as not only was the honey 
quite concealed from view, but its odorous effluvia 
from its being covered and disguised in the experi- 
ment, could not be much diffused. We repeated 
successfully the same experiment. In fact, after the 
first trial, we had no doubt of the issue of the second ; 
for if once the sense of smell in the Bees ascertained 
the existence and situation of the honey, we had seen 
enough of their ingenuity in other cases, not to doubt 
their success in obtaining entrance. In endeavouring 
to ascertain the precise situation of the organ, there 
is considerable difficulty, and our curiosity cannot 
easily be gratified without some sacrifice of bee-life. 
Huber’s experiment to ascertain this point, is full of 
interest, and we recommend a perusal of the account 
of it as detailed in his work. He dipped a pencil in 
oil of turpentine, a substance very disagreeable to 
insects, and presented it to the thorax, the stigmata, 
the abdomen, the antennae, the eyes, and the pro- 
boscis, without the bee betraying the slightest symp- 
tom of uneasy feeling. It was otherwise when he 
held it to the mouth ; it started, left the honey by 
which it had been enticed, and was on the point of 
taking flight when the pencil was withdrawn. He 
next filled the mouth with flour-paste, when the in- 
sect seemed to have lost the sense of smell altogether. 
Honey did not attract it, nor did offensive odours, 
even the formidable turpentine, annoy it. The organ 
of smell, therefore, appears to reside in the mouth, 
or in the parts depending on it. To those who 
