276 BEES DO NOT INVARIABLY 



renient to procure one of Marriott's observatory hives, 

 both on account of its construction, and also because I 

 could have it in my room, and thus keep the bees more 

 immediately imder my own eye. My room is square,with 

 three windows, two on the south-west side, where the hive 

 was placed, and one on the south-east. Besides the 

 ordinary entrance from the outside, the hive had a small 

 postern door opening into the room; this door was 

 provided with an alighting-board, and closed by a plug ; 

 as a general rule the bees did not notice it much unless 

 the passage was very full of them. 



I then placed some honey on a table close to the 

 hive, and from time to time fed certain bees on it. 

 Those which had been fed soon got accustomed to come 

 for the honey ; but partly on account of my frequent 

 absence from home, and partly from their difficulty 

 in finding their way about, and their tendency to lose 

 themselves, I could never keep any marked bee under 

 observation for more than a few days. 



Out of a number of similar observations I will here 

 mention a few and give them in detail in the Appendix, 

 as throwing some Ught on the power of communicating 

 facts possessed by the bees ; they will also illustrate the 

 daily occupations of a working bee. 



Experiment 1. — Thus, on August 24, 1874, 1 oiiened 

 the postern door leading into my room at 6.45 A.M., and 

 watched tUl 1 p.m. three bees, which had been trained 

 to come to honey at a particular spot. They did not, 

 however, know their way very well, and consequently 



