The Life of the Bee 



I even one day came across an extraor- 

 dinary little Italian bee, whose belt I had 

 marked with a touch of blue paint. In 

 her second trip she brought two of her 

 sisters, whom I imprisoned, without in- 

 terfering with her. She departed once 

 more, and this time returned with three 

 friends, whom I again confined, and so 

 till the end of the afternoon, when, count- 

 ing my prisoners, I found that she had 

 told the news to no less than eighteen 

 bees. 



In fact you will find, if you make this 

 experiment yourself, that communication, 

 if not general, at least is frequent. The 

 possession of this faculty is so well 

 known to American bee-hunters that they 

 trade upon it when engaged in searching 

 for nests. Mr. Josiah Emery remarks 

 on this head (quoted by Romanes in 

 his " Intellect of Animals ") : " Going 

 to a field or wood at a distance from 

 1 66 



