422 VISIT TO THE ISLE OF BAS. 



turned with the sprinklings of the flour, and in fact some of 

 them with their miller's jackets on were observed to leave the 

 hive again, and dart away in the direction of the hills. Thus 

 the fact was indisputably ascertained, that the rich pastur- 

 age, although full three miles distant, was within the range 

 of the flight of our bees, and therefore we desisted from our 

 project of removing them. Another corroborative proof of 

 the extent of the flight of the bee was obtained during an 

 excursion which we made with Bonner to the Isle of Bas, 

 at the entrance of the Firth of Forth, which is mostly 

 covered with heath, and on which, to our great surprise, we 

 saw a number of bees collecting their honey. As not a 

 single hive was kept on the island, it was clear that the 

 bees must have winged their way over the water either 

 from the Lothians, or the coast of Fife, the former being 

 about four miles, the latter about eight miles distant. We 

 felt a great desire to ascertain from what quarter the bees 

 had arrived at the Isle of Bas, but the solution of the ques- 

 tion was attended with such almost insuperable difficulties, 

 that we were obliged to relinquish our project. We had, 

 however, so far ascertained the point, that the bee will fly 

 above four miles in search of food, and not over even a 

 campaign country, but over the very waves of the ocean. 

 What a most wonderful instinct must that be, which can 

 teach an insect to direct its flight, to the distance of four 

 miles, over an expanse of water in search of its food, of the 

 existence of which even it cannot be supposed to possess 

 any knowledge ! L'Abbe della Rocca indeed says, that it is 

 the sense of smell which guides the bee to its distant fields 

 of pasture, and in many respects we coincide in the opinion 

 of the worthy Abbe, for certainly nothing can be more acute 

 and powerful than the sense of smell in the bee. In other 

 respects, however, it exceeds our belief, that the sense of 

 smell can possibly be so acute as to direct the bee to an un- 

 inhabited island, situate nearly five miles from the main 



