194 ON THE VISITS OE INSECTS TO FLOWEES. 



34, 48, 55, 63, 68, and 70) that just before I lost siglit of my Bee 

 altogether, it appeared to become wild, and paid a visit to some 

 flower of a fresli and altogether different species (irrespective of 

 colour), afterwards flying right away, although it had been per- 

 fectly methodic previously. I wdsh to refer also to observations 

 ISTos. 3, 4, 27, and 28. In all these cases Humble-Bees paid 

 many visits to two different species of flower at the same time, 

 passicig alternately, without respect to colour, from one to the 

 other after several visits. It is obvious that what has been just 

 said does not apply to these individuals ; and I can only account 

 for their movements on this supposition, that if Bees often visit 

 one species of flower many times consecutively, because they 

 can thus remember from one flower to tlie next the best way to 

 alight and to reach the nectar of that particular species, so saving 

 time, then these Bees were a little more highly intellectual than 

 their fellows, and could manage to work the two species together, 

 although I should fancy more than two would puzzle them. 

 Nevertheless there can be no doubt that insects, more often than 

 not, do their work in the manner which I have spoken of as 

 " methodic " or " constant," although the extent to which these 

 habits are developed varies greatly in the different classes of 

 insects, and even in the different species. 



With Table III. before me, and beai'ing in mind the fact that 

 Bees show a preference for the colour blue, I have endeavoured to 

 ascertain whether my figures show that Bees are more methodic 

 when visiting blue flowers than when visiting flowers of other 

 colours. Unfortunately all my observations on the Honey-Bee 

 have been made when the insects were visiting yellow flowers, 

 so that nothing can be learnt from them ; but of all the 55 

 Humble-Bees watched, no less than 26 visited more or less 

 blue flowers, of which 12 were perfectly methodic, 9 more nearly 

 so, and 5 not at all. Thirteen insects visited white flowers, of 

 which 5 were perfectly methodic and 8 not at all; 11 visited 

 yellow flowers, and 4 were perfectly methodic, 1 nearly so, and 6 

 not at all ; 28 visited red flowers, and 7 were perfectly methodic, 

 9 were nearly so, while 12 were not at all ; so that by this 

 scale of comparison, Humble-Bees are shown to be more methodic 

 when visiting blue flowers than when visiting others ; but this 

 may be a mere coincidence, further observation alone can decide 

 the question. 



