Eyes, Antennae, and Brain 51 



companions. He first, as he writes, " placed some honey 

 in a glass, close to an open window in my sitting-room, and 

 watched it for sixty hours of sunshine, during which no 

 bees came to it. 



" I then, at 10 a.m. on a beautiful morning in June, went 

 to my hives, and took a bee which was just starting out, 

 brought it in my hand up to my room (distance of some- 

 what less than 200 yards), and gave it some honey, which 

 it sucked with evident enjoyment. After a few minutes it 

 flew quietly away, but did not return ; nor did any other 

 bee make its appearance." 



The following morning the same experiment was repeated 

 with the same result, and on several other occasions. On 

 the whole Sir John Lubbock's bees seem to have been par- 

 ticularly stupid, and after citing a number of experiments 

 he concludes, — 



" I might give other similar cases, but these are, I think, 

 sufficient to show that bees do not bring their friends to 

 share any treasure they have discovered so invariably 

 as might be assumed from the statements of previous 

 observers." 



No doubt bees, like people, differ, and very likely the 

 members of a large and flourishing apiary may have their 

 wits sharpened by much competition — like people in a 

 crowded community. 



The ancients believed in the olfactory power of bees, 

 and Aristode says, — 



" Insects can smell from a great distance. Bees scent 

 honey, for they perceive it from long distances, as if they 

 discovered it by scent." 



And Pliny says, in speaking of bees when swarming, — 



"If one of them falls in the rear from weariness or 

 happens to go astray, it is able to follow the others by 

 the aid of its acuteness of smell." 



