. The honey-makers. Bees. 42 The Honey-Makers A bee does little credit to these three eyes when stum- bling about in search of something almost within reach. If its hive is moved only a few feet during its absence, or if it misses the alighting board and drops to the ground, it often wastes a great deal of time bustling about in what seems a very aimless manner before it finds itself again. Between the hexagonal facets of the compound eyes, and slanting in the direction towards which the eye curves, so as not to obstruct vision, are hairs. Why the bee should have hairs on its eyes may not be a
. The honey-makers. Bees. 42 The Honey-Makers A bee does little credit to these three eyes when stum- bling about in search of something almost within reach. If its hive is moved only a few feet during its absence, or if it misses the alighting board and drops to the ground, it often wastes a great deal of time bustling about in what seems a very aimless manner before it finds itself again. Between the hexagonal facets of the compound eyes, and slanting in the direction towards which the eye curves, so as not to obstruct vision, are hairs. Why the bee should have hairs on its eyes may not be apparent until one remembers the unprotected state of those lidless organs. And also the fact that the eyes are constantly in danger of becom- ing dusted over by various substances as the bee dives its head into flower-cups, explores the waxen cells of its hive, and flies abroad on windy days. r, . r^ , It would not do for these eyes to be in- Section or bee s eye. â ' jured or obscured in any way, and the hairs that cover them are protective, and from their structure no doubt also sensory, so they form the body-guard of the eyes, keeping them from all harm. Eyelids would be a great inconvenience to a bee ; eye-hairs serve every purpose and offer no inconvenience whatever. As to what a bee sees with its eyes, and how the objects familiar to us appear to the owner of these numerous optical organs, one is not in a position to state. It is well known that bees distinguish colors, and Sir John Lubbock goes so far as to assure us that honey-bees prefer blue, he having discovered this by alternately alluring and deceiving them with slips of colored paper upon which were â or were not â drops of honey. He found his bees investigating the blue slips before trying other colors, and following the blue about when it was moved from place to. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearan
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherch, booksubjectbees
