The Foundation of the City 
discovery. The learned naturalist does not 
name the race of bees which he selected for 
his experiments, or tell us whether the con- 
ditions were especially unfavourable. As 
for myself, I can only say that 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 extraor- 
dinary 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 imprisoned, without interfering with 
her. She departed once more, and this time 
returned with three friends, whom J again con- 
fined, 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 
135 
