COMMUNICATION" AMONG INSECTS — MclNDOO 549 



cross and recross those of the other bees ; while she is doing this 

 kind of handshaking she is also sharing her nectar with several of 

 the attending bees (fig. 1, A). By the time she reaches the thickest 

 group of the attending bees, perhaps " thinking " that she has not 

 yet attracted enough attention, she dances around on the comb in 

 narrow semicircles, first in one direction, then in the other, keeping 

 up the dance for a quarter or a half minute, but rarely for a whole 

 minute. While quickly passing through these semicircles the dancing 

 bee comes in direct contact with the attending bees ; these are greatly 

 excited, and a few of them fojlow behind the dancer with their 

 antennae touching her abdomen (fig. 1, B). In this brief period, 

 in almost total darkness, and perhaps with no means other than the 

 extremely acute senses of touch and smell, the attending bees seem 

 to acquire without difficulty the necessary information about the 

 nectar to be sought. We can not even guess what the dancer tells 

 the attending bees while stroking their antennae; neither can we 

 imagine what kind of an impression is produced in the little " minds " 

 of the attending bees by the fragrant odor of the flower, carried on 

 the body of the dancer. At any rate, Von Frisch would have us 

 believe that they associate this odor with the plant which secretes 

 the nectar to be sought. All we definitely know is that the bees 

 become greatly excited by attending the round dance, quickly rush 

 out of the hive, and search in all directions for the plants furnishing 

 this particular nectar. This action may help to explain why bees 

 have the habit of collecting nectar or pollen from only one kind of 

 plant on any one trip. 



We have now described the action of a single round dancer, in 

 the course of which we have found that the bees attending her went 

 in search of food, but how do these other nectar collectors act upon 

 their return to the hive ? And how do they inform one another about 

 the abundance or scarcity of the food sought ? 



Von Frisch seems to infer that this is an easy question when once 

 we understand the meaning of the round dance. Each collector that 

 finds a supply of nectar of the particular plant sought, returns home 

 and performs her own particular round dance, and of course each 

 dancer will have her own group of attending bees. In turn, these 

 several groups of excited bees rush out of the hive in search of the 

 desired food. As long as the supply of nectar is abundant, furnishing 

 work for every collector available, the number of collectors in- 

 creases up to the maximum when the supply seems the greatest; 

 but as soon as the bees realize that the supply is being exhausted 

 the number of collectors is gradually decreased. The decrease is 

 accomplished in two ways; the returning collectors cease their danc- 

 ing, thereby ceasing to incite to activity other field bees not yet 



24034—29 36 



