90 THE LIFE OF THE BEE 



my own tables, compiled with great care — and every possible 

 precaution having been taken that the bees should not be 

 directly attracted by the odour of the honey — establish that 

 on an average one bee will bring others four times out of ten. 



I even one day came across an extraordinary little Italian 

 bee, whose belt I had marked with a touch of blue paint. In 

 her second trip she brought two of her sisters, whom I im- 

 prisoned, without interfering with her. She departed once 

 more, and this time returned with three friends, whom I again 

 confined, and so till the end of the afternoon, when, counting 

 my prisoners, I found that she had told the news to no less than 

 eighteen bees. 



In fact, you will find, if you make this experiment 

 yourself, that communication, if not general, at least is frequent. 

 The possession of this faculty is so well known to American bee- 

 hunters that they trade upon it when engaged in searching 

 for nests. Mr. Josiah Emery remarks on this head (quoted by 

 Romanes in his " Intellect of Animals ") : " Going to a field or 

 wood at a distance from tame bees with their box of honey, 

 they gather up from the flowers and imprison one or more 

 bees, and after they have become sufficiently gorged, let 

 them out to return to their home with their easily-gatten 

 load. Waiting patiently a longer or shorter time, according 

 to the distance of the bee-tree, the hunter scarcely ever fails 

 to see the bee or bees return accompanied by other bees, 

 which are in like manner imprisoned till they in turn are 

 filled, when one or more are let out at places distant from 

 each other, and the direction in which the bee flies noted ; 

 and thus, by a kind of triangulation, the position of the bee-tree 

 is proximately ascertained." 



