414 



COMMUNICATION AMONG BEES. 



10.55 a strange bee came. No. 11 returned to the 

 honey regularly, and went on coming. 



October 13. — At 6.28 a.m. she came, but, as before, 

 flew away again without alighting. 



At 6.32 she came to the honey. At 6.36 went away. 



Octoherl4. — She came for the first time at 8.15 a.m., 

 and went on visiting the honey at the usual intervals. 

 After this day 1 saw her no more ; she had probably 

 met with some accident. But these facts show that 

 some bees, at any rate, do not communicate with their 

 sisters, even if they find an untenanted comb full of 

 honey, which to them would be a perfect Eldorado. 

 This is the more remarkable because thesK bees began 

 to work in the morning before the rest, and continued 

 to do so even in weather which drove all the others 

 into the shelter of the hive. That the few strange 

 bees which I have recorded should have found the 

 honey is natural enough, because there were a good 

 many bees about in the room. My room, I may add, 

 is on the first floor ; if it had been on the level of the 

 ground I beheve that many more bees would have found 

 their way to the honey. 



I will now proceed to the similar observations made 

 with wasps. 



