548 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 2 8 



At this stage of his investigation he wonders what sense brought 

 about the communication. He eliminates sight for two reasons ; first, 

 because usually there is no light inside a hive ; and secondly, because 

 in the lighted observation hives he noticed that the light did not seem 

 to have any effect either on the dancing bee or on the ones attending 

 her. He also eliminates hearing, chiefly because that sense is not well 

 established in bees. He says that the sense of taste can play a role 

 only while the dancer is feeding the other bees. Von Frisch favors 

 the double means of communication through the senses of touch and 

 smell set forth in the contact-odor theory of Forel, because he be- 

 lieves that organs of both touch and smell are present in the antennae, 

 that when the antennae were crossed the dancer conveyed to the 

 attending bees part of the information to be communicated, and that 

 at the same time the mouth parts of the dancer certainly bore so 

 much of the sugar water that it could have been perceived by the 

 attending bees. Von Frisch believes that the round dunce itself is 

 a means of communication, but not the only means of telling the 

 attending bees that there is food outside the hive; that it is not 

 absolutely necessar}^, but is a helpful factor. It is conclusively shown, 

 he says, that in a normal hive of bees a definite region of it is pre- 

 ferred by the collectors as an abode, thereby easily facilitating the 

 communication to them of whatever information is to be imparted. 



(2) The round dance is a 7neans of coimnunication for collectors of 

 nectar. — The experiments just described were repeated on a much 

 larger scale and greatly expanded in kind by using the nectar se- 

 creted by plants, and by watching bees collecting honey which had 

 been served purposely for them. It was determined that bees that 

 are collecting nectar and honey return to the hives, share their food 

 with the attending bees, and perform the round dance in the same 

 manner as do the collectors of sugar water. 



Using a nectar collector as an example, and beginning with the 

 act of collecting nectar, the complete performance, including the 

 round dance as described and figured by Von Frisch, is about as 

 follows : A certain plant opens its blossoms, spreads its fragrance far 

 and wide, and announces to the insect world that it is ready to be 

 cross-pollinated. Along comes a scout bee, attracted either by 

 .sight or by smell, or possibly by both ; the bee finds the blossoms 

 overflowing with rich and fragrant nectar. She is happy and works 

 hard to fill her honey stomach with the precious liquid, and at the 

 same time impregnates her body with the odor from the flowers 

 visited. Now she flies high into the air and takes a bee line home, 

 where she passes immediately into her hive, eager to announce her 

 wonderful discovery to the other nectar collectors. Evidently know- 

 ing just where to find them in tlie hive, she rushes among them and 

 salutes them with her extended, palpitating antennae, which gently 



