BEES AND WASPS EMOTIONS. 155 



Similarly Huber relates an observation of his own 

 showing the duration of memory in bees. One autumn 

 he put some honey in a window, which the bees visited in 

 large numbers. During the winter the honey was taken 

 away and the shutters shut. When they were again 

 opened in the spring the bees returned, although there 

 was no honey in the window. 



These two cases amply prove that the memory of bees 

 is comparable with that of ants, which, as we have seen 

 from analogous facts, also extends at least over a period 

 of many months. 



Emotions. 



Sir John Lubbock's experiments on this head go to 

 show that the social sympathies of bees are even less de- 

 veloped than he found them to be in certain species of 

 ants. Thus he says : 



I have already mentioned with reference to the attachment 

 which bees have been said to show for one another, that though 

 I have repeatedly seen them lick a bee which had smeared her- 

 self in honey, I never observed them show the slightest atten- 

 tion to any of their comrades who had been drowned in water. 

 Far, indeed, from having been able to discover any evidence of 

 affection among them, they appear to be thoroughly callous and 

 utterly indifferent to one another. As already mentioned, it 

 was necessary for me occasionally to kill a bee ; but I never 

 found that the others took the slightest notice. Thus on the 

 llth of October I crushed a bee close to one which was feeding 

 in fact, so close that their wings touched ; yet the survivor 

 took no notice whatever of the death of her sister, but went on 

 feeding with every appearance of composure and enjoyment, 

 just as if nothing had happened. When the pressure was re- 

 moved, she remained by the side of the corpse without the 

 slightest appearance of apprehension, sorrow, or recognition. 

 It was, of course, impossible for her to understand my reason 

 for killing her companion ; yet neither did she feel the slightest 

 emotion at her sister's death, nor did she show any alarm lest 

 the same fate should befall her also. In a second case exactly 

 the same occurred. Again, I have several times, while a bee 

 has been feeding, held a second bee by the leg close to her ; the 

 prisoner, of course, struggled to escape, and buzzed as loudly as 

 she could : yet the selfish eater took no notice whatever. Sc 



