THE INSECT MIND 



head in which to insert her sting to produce the 

 desired effect. Truly such science^ as this cannot be 

 found outside the insect world. 



Fabre says that bees have a topographical mem- 

 ory that grasps the map of the country, but not the 

 beloved nest, the home itself. The bee will find the 

 locality of its nest from the verge of the horizon, 

 yet when the nest itself is laid open, she does not 

 recognize it; she can find the entrance door unerr- 

 ingly, and that is enough for her. Exchange the 

 nest of the mason bee for that of another of the 

 same species, and she does not know the difference. 

 If the cell she was working on is half -finished, and 

 you place a completed one, filled with honey, in its 

 place, the bee goes on with her masonry on the filled 

 cell just the same; or, if you reverse this process, 

 and put a half-finished cell in the place of the fin- 

 ished one, she goes forward with her honey-storing 

 in the incomplete cell. She cannot stop her masonry, 

 or her honey-gathering, till her machinery, wound 

 up for that special purpose, has run down. In one 

 instance Fabre punched a hole in the bottom of a 

 cell the bee was filling, so that the honey ran out as 

 fast as she put it in. The bee seemed a little sur- 

 prised at the behavior of the thing, hesitated a little, 

 and then went on with her work, and in due course 

 sealed up the cell, empty though it was, as the pro- 

 gramme demanded. 



Fabre thinks, and apparently proves, that the 

 137 



