106 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



W 



Another of Mr. Donaldson's apiaries, located in the Lippincott orchard, consisting of 120 acres of apples, 



peaches, and berries. 



COLOR SENSE OF THE BEE 



A Lecture hy Dr. Carl MuUow, Munich. Pullislied in the Aluenchner Bienenzeitung. 

 Heberle, B. S., Markt Oberdorf, Bavaria, German j. 



Translated hy J. A. 



[The average American reader is apt to skip over scientific articles, especially those which are not 

 illustrated. In other words, we read what can be read quickly, and often put off the long di-scussions for 

 another time — another time which too often never comes. The following list of experiments, proving that 

 bees are not color blind, is interesting and valuable, and we feel sure that those who pass it by will be the 

 losers. — Ed.] 



The relation between flowers and insects 

 has long been one of the most favored and 

 interestnig- chapters of biology. The natu- 

 ralist Christian Konrad Sprengel was the 

 first one who, at the end of the 18th century, 

 showed by many experiments that flowers 

 do not, without compensation, give their 

 sweet treasure (the nectar) to the visiting 

 insects. He demonstrated that the flowers 

 were dependent on the visits of the insects. 

 He showed various forms and devices of 

 the blossoms that insured the necessary 

 pollination by the nectar-gathering insects. 

 The floweis secrete nectar, not as a generous 

 gift for the benefit of the insects, but for 

 the selfish purpose of being pollinated to 

 propagate the species. Sprengel was also 

 of the opinion that the various bright colors 

 and the sweet scent of the flowers were for 

 the purpose of attracting the insects. To 

 facilitate the finding of the nectar in the 

 depths of the blossoms there are often con- 

 spicuous markings and jDatches at the base 

 of the petals — signs to show the insects the 

 way — to lead them to the nectaries. 



After Sprengel other naturalists continued 

 the study of these interesting observations, 



and added numerous new facts. Most nat- 

 uralists accepted the theory that the bright 

 colors of flowers are for the purpose of 

 attracting the insects. Some scientists, how- 

 ever, opposed this theory, especially the 

 French scientist Plateau, who endeavored 

 to show by numerous experiments that the 

 color is of no importance for the finding of 

 tlie flowers by the insects. Other scientists 

 who opposed Plateau's view devised new 

 experiments to show that Sprengel's theory 

 was well founded. 



The entire controversy was opened again 

 when the oi3hthalmogist Hess, who had 

 made an extensive investigation about the 

 color sense of various groups of animals, 

 asserted that the insects, especially the bee, 

 have no color sense — that she is color blind. 

 To digress a little, a few words about what 

 is meant by color blindness. The color- 

 blind man can distinguish various colors 

 from each other, but he does not see as the 

 man with the normal eye ; various colors he 

 sees as only different shades of gray. He 

 distinguishes the colors only after their 

 lirightness. Through long experience the 

 color blind has learned from childhood that 



