468 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



so that by the end of the third day the original colony possesses a 

 hive odor so different from that of the other half of the colony that 

 when the workers are removed from the two new colonies and are 

 placed together in observation cases they fight one another as though 

 they had been separated all their lives. 



While a foreign hive odor calls forth the fighting spirit in workers, 

 the queen odor always seems pleasant to workers regardless of 

 whether the queen belongs to their hive or to another hive. Even 

 though the queen odor forms a part of the hive odor, it is probable 

 that this odor to the workers stands out quite prominently from the 

 hive odor. That workers do not miss their queen for some time after 

 she has left the hive indicates that her odor thoroughly permeates 

 the hive odor and that whenever this odor grows faint the workers 

 " know " that she is not among them. 



There has been much speculation concerning the ruling spirit or 

 power in a colony of bees. The present writer is inclined to believe 

 that a normal hive odor serves such a purpose. The hive odor is a 

 means of preserving the social life of the bees from without and the 

 queen odor which is a part of it insures continuation of the social life 

 within. As already stated, the workers " know " their hive mates by 

 the hive odor they carry. This odor insures harmony and a united 

 defense when an enemy attacks the colony. The queen odor con- 

 stantly informs the workers that their queen is present. Even though 

 she does not rule, her presence means everything to the bees in per- 

 petuating the colony. Thus by obeying the stimuli of the hive odor 

 and queen odor, and being guided by instinct, a colony of bees per- 

 haps could not want a better ruler. , 



Fielde claims that a certain species of ants bears three distinct 

 odors as follows: (1) A scent deposited by her feet, forming an 

 individual trail, whereby she traces her own steps ; (2) an " inherent " 

 and inherited odor, manifested over her whole body, identical in 

 quality for queens and workers of the same lineage, and a means for 

 the recognition of blood relations; and (3) a nest odor, consisting 

 of the commingled odors of all the members of the colony and used 

 to distinguish their nest from those of aliens. Miss Fielde says that 

 the odor of ants changes with their age, and that 'a cause of feud 

 between ants of the same species living in different communities is 

 a difference of odor arising out of difference of age in the queens 

 whose progeny constitutes the communities, and difference of age in 

 the ants composing the community." She calls this odor the " pro- 

 gressive" odor, and further claims that "fear and hostility are 

 excited in the ant by an ant odor which she [the ant] has not indi- 

 vidually encountered and found to be compatible with her comfort." 

 The same author calls the family or " inherent " odor the " specific " 

 odor which is transmitted by the mother ant to all her offspring of 



