SCENT LANGUAGE OF HONEY BEES — RIBBANDS 377 



In addition, it probably helps to ensure an effective division of 

 labor in the colony, which has to be so integrated that a suitable pro- 

 portion of the worker population carries out each of the various tasks 

 necessary for the maintenance of the colony. Evidence of this attri- 

 bute of food sharing is now accumulating. There are, for example, 

 the observations of Dr. Martin Lindauer, who studied how the activ- 

 ities of bees engaged in collecting water are regulated to suit the 

 colony's need for water ; when much water is required, the collectors 

 are able to give up their loads as soon as they reach the hive, but when 

 the need diminishes they cannot dispose of their load so quickly, and 

 then they do not go out of the hive to collect an}'' more. 



More and more facts are being accumulated which support the 

 view that food sharing is the hasis of communication in the honey- 

 bee colony, and since communication is the essence of social life it 

 is to be expected that food sharing will receive more and more atten- 

 tion from the research workers who study the life of the honey bee. 



REFERENCES 



BUTLEE, C. G. Bee Wovkl, vol. 35, pp. 169-175, 1954. 



Fbisch, K. v. Bull. Auimal Behaviour, vol. 5, pp. 1-32, 1947. 



LiNDAUEE, M. Zeitschr. vergl. Physiol., vol. 36, pp. 391-432, 1954. 



Kalmus, H., and Ribbands, C. R. Proc. Roy. Soc, ser. B, vol. 140, pp. 50-59, 



1952. 

 Nixon, N. L., and Ribbands, C. R. Proc. Roy. Soc, ser. B, vol. 140, pp. 43-50, 



1952. 

 Ribbands, C. R. Proc. Roy. Soc, ser. B, vol. 140, pp. 32-43, 1952. 

 Ribbands, C. R. Proc. Roy. Soc, ser. B, vol. 142, pp. 51-1-524, 1954. 

 Ribbands, C. R. ; Kalmus, H. ; and Nixon, H. L. Nature, vol. 170, pp. 438-440, 



1952. 

 Sladen, F. W. L. Glean. Bee Cult., vol. 29, pp. 639-640, 1901. 



FURTHER READING 



Ribbands, Ronald. The behaviour and social life of honeybees. 322 pp. 

 Dadant and Sons, Hamilton, 111. (The illustrations for this article are taken 

 from that book. ) 



