The Honey-Makers

Half natural history, half literature: how the honey-bee actually works — tongue, wings, sting, swarm — and then three thousand years of what people have believed about her, from the Vedas to mead.

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain

8 pages in this part of The Honey-Makers.

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain

SOMETIMES bees fly several miles in search of flowers. Upon leaving the hive, they ascend high in the air as if to get their bearings, then…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Butler

Whether the bee's two compound eyes focus together, as do our two eyes, is another matter, and probably they do not, as in the…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Blunt-faced-Bees

The bee's antennæ are as necessary as its eyes in the search for honey, and more necessary in other walks of life. "And he shall sing how…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Cheshire

On the lower, outer part of the last six or seven joints, and more abundant towards the end of the antennæ, are microscopic circular…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: John

They do not notice all sounds, but then, neither does any one else, and Sir John Lubbock's tuning-forks, whistles, and violins that failed…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Moffett

Moffett, in his "Theatre of Insects," not only allows to bees the faculty of hearing, but credits them as well with musical appreciation…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Bees

The antennæ are not only ears, but are nostrils to their possessors, a fact proved for the first time, as far as we know, by Huber. "Not…

Eyes, Antenne, and Brain: Huber

No doubt bees recognize their queen by touching her with the antennæ, as Huber performed a number of careful experiments to prove. He…

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of The Honey-Makers (1899) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.