130 SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON BEES AND WASPS. 



bees took no notice. I repeated these experiments at night when 

 the bees were quiet ; but no noise that I could make seemed to 

 disturb them in the least. 



Temper. — I found the temper of the bees very variable. Gener- 

 ally they allowed me to handle them without any sign of irritation ; 

 while at other times, without any reason which I could discover, 

 they stung me sometimes several times in a day ; they seemed the 

 more prone to do so the hotter the weather. 



Wasps. 



Sept. 18. I had in my room a nest of Humble Bees, which I 

 fed with honey. The honey was also visited by wasps. One 

 evening I marked one of these wasps (No. 1) which visited this 

 honey ; she was a large female of V. germanica ; her last visit to 

 the honey that day was at 6.30. 



The next morning she came for tlie first time 

 at 7.25, and fed till 7.28, when she began flying about the room 

 and even into the next ; so I thought it well to put her 

 out of the window, when she flew straight away to her 

 nest. My room, as already mentioned, had windows on 

 two sides ; and the nest was in the direction of a closed 

 window, so that the wasp had to go out of her way in 

 going out through the open one. 

 At 7.45 she came back. I had moved the glass containing the 

 honey about 2 yards ; and though it stood conspicuously, 

 the wasp seemed to have much difficulty in finding it. 

 Again she flew to the window in the direction of her 

 nest, and I had to put her out, which I did at 8.2. 

 At 8.15 she returned to the honey almost straight. 8.21, she 

 flew again to the closed window, and apparently could 

 not find her way ; so at 8.-35 I put her out again. 

 It seems obvious from this that wasps have a sense of 

 direction, and do not find their way merely by sight. 

 At 8.50 back to honey, and 8.54 again to wrong window ; but 

 finding it closed, she took two or three turns round 

 the room, and then flew out through the open window. 

 At 9.24 back to the honey; and 9.27 away, flrst, however, 

 paying a visit to the wrong window, but without 

 alighting. 



