The Life of the Bee 



ever the cause, it often will also happen 

 that the bee whom fortune has favoured 

 will return to the honey accompanied by- 

 two or three friends. I am aware that 

 Sir John Lubbock, in the appendix to 

 his book on " Ants, Bees, and Wasps," 

 records the results of his investigations 

 in long and minute tables ; and from 

 these we are led to infer that it is a matter 

 of rarest occurrence for a single bee to 

 follow the one who has made the dis- 

 covery. The learned naturalist does not 

 name the race of bees which he selected 

 for his experiments, or tell us whether 

 the conditions were especially unfavour- 

 able. As for myself I only can say that 

 my own tables, compiled with great care, 

 — and every possible precaution having 

 been taken that the bees should not be 

 directly attracted by the odour of the 

 honey, — establish that on an average one 

 bee will bring others four times out of ten. 

 165 



