42 SIB JOHN LtTBBOCK ON ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. 



fact, so far as it goes, tends to strengthea them, because it 

 shows that notwithstanding this tendency the blue was pre- 

 ferred and the honey on cohwless glass neglected. The legiti- 

 mate conclusion to be drawn seems, I confess, to me, not that 

 my mode of observation was faulty, but only that the preference 

 of the bees for particular colors is really somewhat greater than 

 the numbers would indicate. 



Next, Dr. Miiller objects that when disturbed from one drop 

 of honey, the bees naturally would, and that in his experiments 

 they actually did, fly to the next. He gives the two following 

 cases in illustration : — 



Blue. Yellow. Greenish yellow. Scarlet. White. Eed, Green. Violet. 



7 6 5 4 3 2 1 



Violet. Green. Eed. White. Scarlet. Greenish yellow. Yellow. Blue. 



87654 3 21 



in which, as will be seen, the bee came in both cases to the right- 

 hand drop, and then went regularly along the line, whatever the 

 color might be. Out of 240 cases he found that the bee, when 

 disturbed, flew to the nearest drop in 207. As a matter of fact, 

 however, this did not happen in my experiments, because, to 

 avoid this source of error, when I removed the colour I gave the 

 bee a good shake and so made her take a flight before settling 

 down again. 



According to my experience, bees differ considerably in cha- 

 racter, or, 1 should rather perhaps say, in humor. Some are 

 much shier and more restless than others. AVhen disturbed from 

 the first drop of honey, some are much longer before they settle 

 on the next than others. Much also of course depends on how 

 long the bee has been experimented on. Bees, like men, settle 

 down to their work. Moreover it is no doubt true that, cceteris 

 paribus, a bee in search of honey will go to the nearest source. 



But, as a matter of fact, in my hundred experiments I only had 

 a few cases like those quoted above from Dr. Miiller. This arose 

 partly from the fact that my bees were frequently changed, and 

 partly because I took care, in removing the color, to startle the 

 bee enough to make her take a little flight before alighting 

 again. Dr. Miiller says that in his experiments, when the bee 

 did not go to the next honey, it was when he shook her off' too 

 vigorously. Under the circumstances, I should rather say that 

 in the two observations quoted above he did not shake the bee 

 off vigorously enough. The whole objection, however, is open to 



