Newark post., 1910-09-21
CAN THE BEE
SEE AND SMELL

In the last article the marvellous
vision of the bee was referred to, and
in this article wish to say word
about the hearing and smelling power
ui the bee.
We are indebted to blind man for
SOME OF the maryels of bee life. #
would seem to many that blind man
MOud make out very poorly in the
-tudE OF bee lie, sthe best eyes do
not serve always to guard against the
danger of stings.
r. Hubor. of Geneva. is the cele
brated naturalist to whom | refer. He
published his work on the obserya
lions OF the bees i'll 1914. Hubor was
engaged to young lady in early lie.
When he lost the use Of his eyes. All
hopes ofmarriage departed with the
loss of his sight. Her betrothed. did
not see it in that light. The calamity
only bound her closer to him and she
insisted upon the consummation of the
marriage. 1t proved a most happy
unlon and in a thousand ways she was
eyes to him. He studied the bees
through her eyes. and his acute mind
suggested many questions which prob
ably would never have occurred to
one who possessed his sight
here are two organs of the bee.
which attract little attention, that are
most wonderful i'll their structure and
use. These are the two antennae.
They are two flexible black horns on
The head OF the bee. There are twelve
'onts i'll each antenna in the queen
and the worker, and thorteen in those
nl the drOne. The first Joint next the
head IS much larger than any of the
others, bieng almost a third OF the
jSngth OF the antenna. They can be
moved | many and every direction.
Now It's III these antennae that we
ind the organs Of hearing Of smell
and OF feeling.
hese artenae are covered with
hairs. These hairs standing above
the general surface constitute the ar
tenae amrvelous touch organs; and as
they are distributed all around each
Joint the worker bee in blossom or
cup, OF with its head thrdust into a
cell in the darkness OF the hive is, by
this means, as able accurately to de
termine as though she saw: while the
queen, whose antenna is made after
the same model, can perfectly dstin-
cell into which her head NAV be
thrust. - (Cheshire)
In speaking on til elanguage of
!. bees in forme rarticle. | did not re-
fer TO the fact that bees communicate
by their antennae, but referred only to
the audible sounds. Observation of
the bees, carried on by Huber and
othes reveals the fact that the bees
communicate by means of the anten-
nae. The Interpretation of these
signs has never bene mae. We come
now to a most wonderful revelation
which the microscope makes in these
antennae. In the seven Joints toward
the end are found small holes, num-
bering from 20 in some, down to
smaller number in others. These are
supposed to be the sound hollows or
ears Of the bee. This would make
about IS to 100 ears on each antenna
or $50 to 200 ears to bee. That bees
do hear has been demonstrated be-
yond any doubt. but it has not been
always clear where the organ of sound
was located. 1t is true that unusual
sound, such as firing off a gun or a
sharp cry nea rthe hive seems to make
no impression upon the bees, but that
this does not prove the absence of the
sense of hearing is we'll illustrated by
Cheshire. when he says should some
alien being watch humanity during a
thunder storm he might quite SINH
larly decide that thunder was to us
inaudible.
Clap might follow clap without Sc
curing any external sign of recogni
ton; yet let little child with tiny
voice but shrek for help, and all
would at once be awakened to acti-
witty. So with the bee: sounds ap-
pealing to its instincts meet with i'm
mediate response, while others evoke
no wasted emotion"
If you should place a hive of bees in