The Riddles

Summary

The reading passage entitled as “The Riddles” has been taken from a prose selection “Current
English for Colleges”. The author here draws our attention to certain mysteries in the nature.
Viz; how the birds come to know when they have to fly to south in winter or how long a bear
sleeps in winter and how the bees and wasp find out their way back home after searching for
food.
The writer performed several experiments and observations to find out the answer of similar
questions. He studied different insects and birds like bees, wasps ants and pigeons. The author
started his study by marking some bees and wasps with white paint and took them to different
locations at various distances and released them. The writer discovered to his surprise that both
bees and wasps found their way back home.

Continuing his study further, the author observed that both baby bees and wasps before going
farther, first gather knowledge of the geography around their hives. They even land mark certain
objects to enable themselves locate their path to their hives. The Other interesting information
the writer discovered that bees can go as far as two miles in search of food and they can safely
come back home moving along the landmarks that they observed and noted. Besides this, it was
also noticed that it is difficult for the bees to learn new paths.

The writer similarly discusses the secret of how ants find their way back home. He reveals that
ants have got a fine sense of smell located in their antennae or feeler and this can be easily
noticed when ants always keep this feeler or antennae in a moving state in order to sense the
odor of their nest which guides them back to it.

Lastly, the author talks about the mystery of the carrier pigeon who can also find their way back
home from as far as 200 miles. They also follow the same pattern of land marking certain
objects.
The present reading passage “Riddles” makes an interesting reading on certain puzzles of nature
hitherto uncovered. The interest and curiosity of the reader is maintained throughout the passage.