THE CONSTANCY OF THE BEE. 221 



flower at a time, visiting hundreds of blossoms in succession, and 

 passing over other species that may be mixed with them."* 



Frank R. Cheshire. — " The curious habit of the Apidss of 

 visiting one kind of flower only during any single excursion. "t 



R. M. Christy. — " So far as Table I. goes, it will be seen 

 that the Hive-Bee is perfectly methodical in its habits."! 



A. W. Bennett. — " The Diptera exhibit greater constancy 

 [than butterflies], though by no means absolute. A much greater 

 degree of constancy is manifested by the Apidse, and this becomes 

 all but absolute in the Hive-Bee. "§ 



It is generally agreed that the Hive-Bee exhibits this phe- 

 nomenon of constancy in the highest degree. In my own 

 experience, the Wild Bees which I have had the opportunity of 

 observing have shown a much greater tendency to pass from one 

 species of flower to another than the Hive-Bee. 



The following notes refer to Apis mellifica only. Each group 

 of observations was made during one period of watching, extend- 

 ing sometimes to an hour and a half. They were noted in a 

 garden during March of the present year : — 



Bee No. 1 goes from Chionodoxa lucilice to Crocus. 



>) A >) >> j> 



)> " >) >> >> 



,, 4 ,, Crocus to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



> J O ; , ,, jj 



)) O 5) >) >) 



)) ' )> )> >> 



)) o ,, ;, ,» 



,, 9 ,, ,, Snowdrop. 



Bee No. 1 goes from Chionodoxa lucilice to Crocus. 



,, 2 ,, Erythronlum dens-canls to Anemone hepatica. 



,, 3 ,, Crocus to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



,, 4 ,, Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



,, 5 ,, Crocus to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



,, 6 ,, Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



>) • > > n >) 



,, 8 ,, Chionodoxa lucilice to Anemone hepatica. 



,, 9 ,, Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa lucilice. 



,,10 ,, Crocus to Scilla Sibirica. 



* ' Darwinism,' p. 318. 

 f ' Bees and Bee-keeping,' vol. i. p. 319. 

 I ' Proc. Linn. Soc. Zool.' vol. xvii. p. 186, 

 § Ibid. p. 184, 



