More Enquiries into Mason-bees 



is about one mile and five furlongs. The 

 reader can easily follow my route on the 

 ordnance-survey map; and he will see that the 

 loop described measures not far short of five 

 miles and a half. 



At the same time, Favier came and joined 

 me at Font-Claire, by the direct road, the one 

 that runs through Piolenc. He brought with 

 him fifteen Mason-bees, intended for purposes 

 of comparison with mine. I am, therefore, in 

 possession of two sets of insects. Fifteen, 

 marked in pink, have taken the five-mile bend; 

 fifteen, marked in blue, have come by the 

 straight road, the shortest road for returning 

 to the nest. The weather is warm, exceedingly 

 bright and very calm; I could not hope for a 

 better day for my experiment. The insects 

 are given their freedom at mid-day. 



At five o'clock, the arrivals number seven 

 of the pink Mason-bees, whom I thought that 

 I had bewildered by a long and circuitous 

 drive, and six of the blue Mason-bees, who 

 came to Font-Claire by the direct route. The 

 two proportions, forty-six and forty per cent., 

 are almost equal; and the slight excess in fa- 

 vour of the insects that went the roundabout 

 way Is evidently an accidental result which we 



lOI 



