94 THE LIFE OF THE BEE 



5° 



And further we might mention what M. Georges de 

 Layens, the celebrated French apiarist, terms the " distribution 

 of bees over melliferous plants." Day after day, at the first 

 hour of sunrise, the explorers of the dawn return, and the 

 hive awakes to receive the good news of the earth. " The 

 lime-trees are blossoming to-day on the banks of the canal." 

 " The grass by the roadside is gay with white clover." " The 

 sage and the lotus are about to open." " The mignonette, 

 the lilies are overflowing with pollen." Whereupon the 

 bees must organise quickly and arrange to divide the work. 

 Five thousand of the sturdiest will sally forth to the lime- 

 trees, while three thousand juniors go and refresh the white 

 clover. Those who yesterday were absorbing nectar from 

 the corollas will to-day repose their tongue and the glands 

 of their sac, and gather red pollen from the mignonette, or 

 yellow pollen from the tall lilies ; for never shall you see a 

 bee collecting or mixing pollen of a different colour or species, 

 and indeed one of the chief preoccupations of the hive is the 

 methodical bestowal of these pollens in the store-rooms in strict 

 accordance with their origin and colour. Thus does the 

 hidden genius issue its commands. The workers immediately 

 sally forth, in long black files, whereof each one will fly 

 straight to its allotted task. " The bees," says de Layens, 

 " would seem to be perfectly informed as to the locality, 

 the relative melliferous value, and the distance of every 

 melliferous plant within a certain radius from the hive. 



" If we carefully note the different directions in which 



