220 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THE CONSTANCY OF THE BEE. 

 By G. W. Bulman. 



Do Bees keep to one species of flower during a single journey ? 

 There is a general consensus of opinion that they do, as the 

 following quotations show : — 



Aristotle. — " During each flight the Bee does not settle 

 upon flowers of different kinds, but flies, as it were, from violet 

 to violet, and touches no other species till it returns to the hive." 



Dobbs. — " I have frequently followed a Bee loading the farina, 

 bee-bread, or crude wax on its legs through part of a great field 

 in flower, and on whatever flower it first alighted and gathered 

 the farina, it continued gathering from that kind of flower, and 

 passed over many other species, though very numerous in the 

 field, without alighting on or loading from them, though the 

 flower it chose was much scarcer than the others ; so that, if it 

 began to load from a daisy, it continued loading from the same, 

 neglecting clover, honeysuckle, and the violet."* 



Darwin. — " All kinds of Bees and certain other insects usually 

 visit the flowers of the same species as long as they can, before 

 going to another species."! 



H. Muller. — " The most specialised, and especially the 

 gregarious Bees, have produced great differentiations in colour, 

 which enable them on their journeys to keep to a single species 

 of flower." t 



Lord Avebdry. — " It is a remarkable fact that in most cases 

 Bees confine themselves in each journey to a single species of 

 plant." § 



A. R. Wallace. — " Now it has been ascertained by several 

 observers, that many insects, Bees especially, keep to one kind of 



* ' Phil. Trans.' 1736. 



f ' Fertilisation of Plants,' pp. 415-16. 



| ' Fertilisation of Flowers,' p. 595. 



§ ' British Wild Flowers in Kelation to Insects,' p. 26. 



