SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON BEES, WASPS, AND ANTS. 237 



fate of their unfortunate companions does not in the least deter 

 others who approach the tempting lure from madly alighting on 

 the bodies of the dying and the dead, to share the same miserable 

 end. No one can understand the extent of their infatuation until 

 he has seen a confectioner's shop assailed by myriads of hungry 

 bees. I have seen thousands strained out from the syrup in 

 which they had perished ; thousands more alighting even upon 

 the boiling sweets ; the floor covered and windows darkened with 

 bees, some crawling, others flying, and others still, so completely 

 besmeared as to be able neither to crawl nor fly — not one in ten 

 able to carry home its ill-gotten spoils, and yet the air filled with 

 new hosts of thoughtless coiners"*. 



If, however, bees are to be credited with any moral feelings at 

 all, I fear the experience of all bee-keepers shows that they have 

 no conscientious scruples about robbing their weaker brethren. 

 " If the bees of a strong stock," says Langstroth, " once get a 

 taste of forbidden sweets, they will seldom stop until they have 

 tested the strength of every hive." And, again, " Some bee- 

 keepers question whether a bee that once learns to steal ever 

 returns to honest courses." Siebold has mentioned similar facts 

 in the case of wasps (Folisfes). 



Wasps. 

 Sept. 13. At 6 A.M. I put a wasp to some honey on green paper, 

 and about a foot ofli" I put some more honey on orange paper.- 

 The wasp kept returning to the honey at the usual intervals. At 

 8.30 I transposed the papers ; but the wasp followed the colour. 

 At 9 o'clock I transposed the papers again, but not the honey ; 

 she returned again to the green, from which it would appear that 

 she was following the colour, not the honey. At 10.20 I again 

 transposed them, with the same result. 



Ants. 

 M. Porel, in his excellent work ' Les Fourmis de la Suisse.' 

 asserts that Ants, when they first quit the pupal state, like the 

 bees, devote themselves to household duties and the care of the 

 young, not taking any part in the defence of the nest until a 

 later period of life. He has repeated many of Huber's expe- 

 riments. As regards the memory of ants, he convinced him- 

 self that they recognized their companions after a separation of 

 '. * ' Hive- and Honey-Bee,' Langstroth. page 277. 



