HONEY BEES 



amazing that some biologists have found it difficult to credit 

 them. At least the main outlines of the work have, however, 

 been confirmed in the last few years by other observers, for 

 instance at Rothamsted in England. 



It has always been difficult to understand how such a 

 highly organised system as a colony of any social insect 

 could run without a general staff and with no means of com- 

 munication. While no system of government has yet been 

 discovered, very peculiar methods of conveying information 

 have been revealed. 



The principal experimental method has been to put dishes 

 of sugar and water at points various distances from the hive. 

 When foraging workers begin feeding at the dishes and taking 

 the sweet liquid back to the hive, the bees are marked in 

 various ways on their backs with coloured paints, so that each 

 one can be recognised again. By watching the behaviour of 

 the marked bees, both at the dishes and after their return to 

 the hive, observers have discovered their methods of convey- 

 ing information. 



It is known that worker bees have glands at the end of the 

 abdomen, between two of the overlapping plates of the upper 

 surface. When the bees are feeding on a rich source of food 

 these glands can be seen extruded, showing as small white 

 patches. Von Frisch found that if he covered the extruded 

 gland with a small patch of shellac, the dish did not in the 

 next hour or so attract nearly so many new bees as did a 

 similar dish at which the marked bees had not been treated 

 with shellac. As the structure of the gland resembles that of a 

 scent-producing organ, it is inferred that the dish becomes 

 impregnated with a scent which guides newcomers to it. 



Von Frisch further found that foraging bees, on their 

 return to the hive, perform a sort of dance, either on the 

 alighting board or on the comb. He found that if the source 



h 113 



