Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-10-07


store of good food. at any rate they
do not hsbitually do SO, and this seemed
to him strong reason for concluding that
they are not 10 the habit Of commuuicat'
ing facts. If they do not, he argues, dis
cuss the incidents of the day, their adj
ventures for food, their success aud for.
tunes in hunting. is not fair inference
that they have no power Of doing sol
Without in any way regarding the fact:
now recorded as sufficient or conclusive,
he thought they Indicated that their com.
munication were confined to the feelings,
and that there was no power of transmit
ing information az to matters Of fact.
When once wasps had made themselves
thoroughly acquainted with their way,
their movements were most regular. They
spent three minutes supplying themselves
with honey, and then few straight to the
nest. returning after an interval of about
ten minutes, and thus making, like the
bees about FIVE journeys an hour. During
they began in tho morning
about six O'Clock, and later when the
mornings began to get cold, and continued
to work ustil dusk. They made, there
fore, rather more than City journeys in
the day, Iu fact, they were just as ill.,
dustrious as bees, aud kept longer hours.
as they began earlier in the morning. He
believed that the wasps which seemed to
be idlng In our rooms had simply lost
their way. He gave also u number of OBJ
,ervations tending to show the difficulty
which. bees have IN finding their way. For
Instance, he put bee into bell glass
eighteen inches long with a mouth six aud
, half inches in diameter, turning the
,Iosed end to the window. The bee buzz.
ID about for an hour. when. az there
eemsd no chance for getting out, be re-
eased her.
Although, as every one knows, wasps
IRE easily startled and very much on the
'lert, still they are very courageous.
On one occasion, one Of his marked
vasps had sIncared herself with honey,
md could not fly. When this happened
0 bee, it was only necessary to carry
Ter to the alighling board, when she was
DON cleaned by her comrades. But he
lid net know where the wasp's nest was.
nd could not, therefore, pursue similar
curse with her Al FIRST he was afraid
he was doomed. He thought, however,
hat he could wash her, fully expecting.
,deed, to territy her so much that she
'ould not return again. He therefore
aught her, put her in bottle half full
f water, and shook her up and down well
i the honey was washed off. He then
-ansfcrred her to a dry bottle, and put
er IN the sun. When she was dry. he
It her out, and she at once flew to her
est. To his surprise. in thirteen minutes
10 returned as if nothing had happened,
al continued her visits to the honey all
e afternoon. The next morning she
AZ the first to arrive.
He also had made some experiments on
e behavior Of bees introduced into
range hives, which seemed to contradict
e ordinary statement that strange bees
e always recognized aud attacked.
Another poin, as to which very differ
Il OPT Mons have been established is the
% of the an,enne. Some cntomologists
I'VE regarded them as olfactory organs,
inc as ears; the weight Of authority
'ipg p'rhaps III favor OF the latter opIn- {
n. In experimenting on his wasps AMI
'es, Sir John, to his surprise. could oh.
in no evidence that they heard at all.
e tried with y shrill pipe. with whistle,
i,h the violin, with all the sounds Of
hich his voice was capable, doing so,
oreover, within few inches Of their
cad; but they confined TO feed without
he slightest appearance Of consciousness.
Lastly, he rscounted some obseI vatioDs
, show that bees have the power of dis.
colors. The relations of ln-
,cts to flowers imply that the folmer can
color. but there has been as
ct but few direct observations on the
ONT Popular Scientjfc Miscellany.