The Nervous System and the Senses 179 



sight is their guide, they must remember various objects 

 over or about which they fly as they go out and must return 

 by known paths. This is actually the case. If bees are 

 accustomed to fly in only one direction to the forage and 

 are carried off a shbrt distance into unknown environment, 

 they fail to return. It is evident that bees are guided back 

 to their hives by a memory of the objects encountered, as 

 perceived by sight. If a hive is moved, they then follow over 

 the accustomed paths to the old location of the entrance, 

 but having no experience over the road from the old location 

 to the new one, they fail to make the trip unless they acciden- 

 tally encounter the hive. No ''unknown force" need be 

 called in here to explain the phenomena. Evidently the play 

 flights and the early trips to the field are the times during 

 which bees acquire knowledge of their surroundings. If a 

 colony is moved several miles, the bees must orient themselves 

 anew, and in order that they may perceive the change and 

 "recognize" the necessity for re-orientation, the beekeeper 

 often places brush or grass about the entrance so that the 

 change may be perceived when they first fly out. 



That sight is the important sense in the location of the hive 

 is appreciated by beekeepers who have learned that irregu- 

 larities in the rows of hives, landmarks of trees or shrubs 

 in the apiary or differences in color of the hives are beneficial 

 in enabling the bees to find their hives quickly. These cus- 

 toms are well founded on the behavior of the bees. 



Memory. 



It would appear from the preceding discussion that bees 

 are not entirely bundles of reflexes but that they actually 

 have memory. The finding of the hive is good evidence of 

 this fact and it is also asserted (v. Buttel-Reepen) that they 

 remember the location of the feeder in the hive and that 

 scouting bees remember the paths to the locations chosen 

 by them. 



The best evidence of memory is found in the fact that 

 memory is sometimes lost. If bees are stupefied by tobacco 



