CHAP. XI. PERFORATION OF THE COROLLA. 433 



kinds to their having long practised the instinct of 

 moulding cells and pots of wax, or of enlarging their 

 old cocoons with tubes of wax; for they are thus 

 compelled to work on the inside and outside of the 

 same object. 



In the early part of the summer of 1857 I was 

 led to observe during some weeks several rows of the 

 scarlet kidney-bean (Phaseolus multiflorus), whilst 

 attending to the fertilisation of this plant, and daily 

 saw humble- and hive-bees sucking at the mouths 

 of the flowers. But one day I found several humble- 

 bees employed in cutting holes in flower after flower ; 

 and on the next day every single hive-bee, without 

 exception, instead of alighting on the left wing-petal 

 and sucking the flower in the proper manner, flew 

 straight without the least hesitation to the calyx, and 

 sucked through the holes which had been made only 

 the day before by the humble-bees; and they con- 

 tinued this habit for many following days.* Mr. Belt 

 has communicated to me (July 28th, 1874) a similar 

 case, with the sole difference that less than half of the 

 flowers had been perforated by the humble-bees; 

 nevertheless, all the hive-bees gave up sucking at the 

 mouths of the flowers and visited exclusively the bitten 

 ones. Now how did the hive-bees find out so quickly 

 that holes had been made ? Instinct seems to be out 

 of the question, as the plant is an exotic. The holes 

 cannot be seen by bees whilst standing on the wing- 

 petals, where they had always previously alighted. 

 From the ease with which bees were deceived when the 

 petals of Lobelia erinus were cut off, it was clear that 

 in this case they were not guided to the nectar by its 

 iinell; and it may be doubted whether they were 



1 Gard. Chron.' 1857, p. 725. 



2 F 



