SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON BEES, WASPS, AND ANTS. 235 



another, and immediately recognize and attack any intruder from 

 another hive. At first sight this certainly implies a great deal of 

 intelligence. It is, however, possible that the bees of particular 

 hives have a particular smell. Thus Langstroth, in his interest- 

 ing ' Treatise on the Honey Bee,' says : — " Members of difi'erent 

 colonies appear to recognize their hive companions by the sense 

 of smell ;" and I believe that if colonies are sprinkled with scented 

 syrup, they may generally be safely mixed. Moreover, a bee re- 

 turning to its own hive with a load of treasure is a very different 

 creature from a hungry marauder ; and it is said that a bee, if 

 laden with honey, is allowed to enter any hive with impunity. 

 Mr. Langstroth continues, " There is an air of roguery about a 

 thieving bee which, to the expert, is as characteristic as are the 

 motions of a pickpocket to a skilful policeman. Its sneaking 

 look and nervous guilty agitation, once seen, can never be mis- 

 taken." It is at any rate natural that a bee which enters a wrong 

 hive by accident should be much surprised and alarmed, and would 

 thus probably betray herself. 



On the whole, then, I do not attach much importance to their 

 recognition of one another as an indication of intelligence. 



I had made some observations also with the view of ascertaining 

 whether the bees which collect honey also work in the hive and 

 attend to the brood, or whether they devote themselves exclu- 

 sively to one or other of these duties. My observations, how- 

 ever, were not conclusive ; but some light has been thrown on the 

 subject by Dzierzon, from which it would appear that for the first 

 fortnight of a bee's life she attends exclusively to indoor duties, 

 and only afterwards takes to the collection of honey and pollen. 

 Dzierzon's statements have been confirmed by Dr. Douhoff. On 

 the 18th April he introduced a Ligurian queen into a hive of black 

 bees. The first Ligurian workers emerged on the 10th May, and 

 made their first appearance outside the hive on the 17th ; but 

 not until the 25th did any of the Ligurian workers appear on his 

 feeding-troughs, which were constantly crowded with common 

 bees, nor were any seen to visit the flowers. Eepeated observa- 

 tions, says Dr. Donhoff, "force me to conclude that during the first 

 two weeks of the worker-bee's life the impulse for gathering 

 honey and pollen does not exist, or at least is not developed, and 

 that the development of this impulse proceeds slowly and gradu- 

 ally. At first the young bee will not even touch the honey pre- 

 sented to her ; some days later she will simply taste it ; and only 



