The Life of the Bee 



from her companions, and to keep her 

 a prisoner in the first compartment. Then, 

 having marked her companions with a 

 diiFerent colour, I threw open the second 

 compartment and set them at liberty, 

 myself returning quickly to my study 

 to await their arrival. Now it is evi- 

 dent that if a verbal or magnetic commu- 

 nication had passed, indicating the place, 

 describing the way, etc., a certain num- 

 ber of the bees, having been furnished 

 with this information, should have found 

 their way to my room. I am compelled 

 to admit that there came but a single one. 

 Was this mere chance, or had she followed 

 instructions received ? The experiment 

 was insufficient, but circumstances pre- 

 vented me from carrying it fiirther. I 

 released the " baited " bees, and my study 

 soon was besieged by the buzzing crowd 

 to whom they had taught the way to the 

 treasure. 



171 



