54 ANIMAL INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE 



artificially imposed with a view to altering the order do not succeed 

 in this, as they would do if the actions were of very intelligent 

 kind. For example, a nest with fully-constructed top-cell partly 

 stored was substituted for the original nest in which the uppermost 

 cell had only been commenced. The bee did not apparently 

 detect the imposture, and proceeded to raise the walls of the 

 substituted cell till it was one-third greater than the normal height. 

 In another experiment a bee had completed the construction of a 

 cell, and was preparing to store it, when another nest with an in- 

 complete top-chamber was substituted. On her return with honey 

 and pollen she appeared greatly puzzled at the change, and finally 

 deposited her load in the nest of a neighbour. The result of 

 another similar experiment was somewhat different, for the bee 

 removed the roof of the last complete cell and stored this a second 

 time, afterwards laying a second egg in it. The last two experi- 

 ments seem to prove the existence of a certain infusion of intelli- 

 gence, as shown by the attempts to meet the altered circumstances, 

 though these attempts were not of very satisfactory kind. It 

 is somewhat remarkable that this bee is apparently unable to 

 recognize its own nest, though we must not forget that its visual 

 powers are of different kind from our own, but it has a well-marked 

 memory for localities, returning to the spot selected for building- 

 purposes from considerable distances. Fabre also showed that 

 individuals removed as far as four kilometres from their nests, into 

 what was probably unknown country to them, were able to find 

 their way home. Quite a number of animals are endowed with 

 a strong " homing faculty" of this kind, but how far this may be 

 due to a " locality sense " which cannot be explained by applying 

 the known principles of human physiology, it is as yet impossible 

 to say. In this particular instance, even if we were to assume 

 that the bees had some previous acquaintance with the distant 

 place to which they were taken, we should still be quite unable to 

 explain exactly how they got home. Locality-memory, however, 

 would seem to imply some amount of intelligence. Readers de- 

 siring further details of the fascinating observations and experi- 

 ments by Fabre on Mason- Bees and many other insects are 

 referred to the original work, or the translation of the same which 

 has recently appeared. 



Suggestions have more than once been made in the course of 

 this book as to the kind of investigation which amateur naturalists 



