THE HONEY-GUIDES 39 



Guiding may be done at times to bees' nests that are exposed, and 

 in which the bird could get at the comb without the aid of a follower. 



Guiding seems not to be recorded to old nests deserted by the bees 

 even though some of them may contain considerable amounts of wax 

 and other food. 



Guiding may cover a duration of from a few seconds to half an hour, 

 or possibly even an hour, and may involve a distance of from a few 

 feet to over half a mile, and possibly, at times, even a mile. Skead 

 (1951, pp. 59-60) has put on record the following data on six guiding 

 experiences: One trip covered 20 yards in 3 minutes; another, 20-30 

 yards in 5 minutes; another, 100 yards in 20 minutes; another, 320 

 yards in 10-15 minutes; one, 100 yards in 4 minutes; and one involved 

 no appreciable distance or time as the bird merely gave the guiding chat- 

 ter call, flew off, and then returned to its original perch, which was 

 close to a bees' nest. My personal experience includes 23 guiding 

 trips (tabulated below). The longest one covered 750 yards and 

 lasted 28 minutes, several were from 250-350 yards and lasted from 

 9 to 16 minutes; and the shortest one involved a distance of 20 yards 

 in 2 minutes. 



GUIDING TRIPS WITH INDICATOR INDICATOR 



