Natural History of the Honeybee. 33 



An old bee flies out from the entrance, if the forage is rich, directly and swift as a:i 

 arrow. It darts from the entrance through which it has often flown, and knows its path 

 of flight. A young bee flying for the first time must first make a flight of orientation. 

 This is a conclusive proof, that bees learn." 



THE FINDING OF THE HIVE THROUGH THE SENSES OF SIGHT AND SMELL. 

 While the sense of sight is sufficient under ordinary circumstances for bees to find 

 their way home, still they use the sense of smell also under the following conditions: 



If a colony has been brought from another district, and the slide is opened after the 

 hive is in place, then the bees flying out hasten away without orientation, for naturally 

 they do not know of- their change of place, and believe themselves in a well-known neigh- 

 borhood. In such cases they are seen striking out either in graded fight or mounting in 

 the well-known corkscrew lines without turning the eyes to the hive, as is always done 

 in the described flight of orientation. According to my observation, such bees, flying 

 without first orienting themselves, often come back in a surprisingly short time, because, 

 failing to see the customary landmarks, they immediately begin to seek orientation. If 

 the newly procured colony stand between others which look like it, then in finding their 

 way back there is what Herr Eoth, the leader of the bee-keepers' school at Baden, wrote 

 to me " a tasting with the sense of smell, which is extended to the neighboring hives. ' ' 

 This is a striking phenomenon easily observed. An orientation with the eyes goes on at the 

 same time, so that the real flight of orientation does not have to be carried on later. 



As I have said, such oriented bees that fly out return quickly, often after^five or ten 

 minutes, with full burdens if the weather is mild and there is no wind. In cooler weather, 

 and with sharp wind, many go too far into unknown regions and do not find their way 

 back. 100 



Bees remain out on flight seldom longer than one-half hour if the forage is near — 

 almost never over an hour if the forage is distant and in unknown surroundings. 101 They 

 then go home apparently willingly, with a half or a quarter of a full load, as one can easily 

 see in the tiny pollen-sacs and in the slight body. 



Let us now hear from Dr. Bethe's description concerning a transported hive (1. c, 

 p f 92). "Lubbock placed some honey out in a room to which some wasps came: he then 

 closed the window which faced the nest. The wasps flew mainly against the window, 

 but finally flew through the other open window. After a few times the greater number 

 flew immediately to the open one. Since, however, a kind of ' accustoming, ' based upon 

 an unknown force, seems to enter in finding the way home in this experiment, I hoped 

 to succeed in getting results by observing accurately a new colony of bees. It was bought 

 in a village seven kilometers away, and was placed in the Institute garden about seven 

 o'clock in the morning. At first only a few bees hummed around in the air. 102 A great 

 number sat upon the flight-board and the front wall of the hive, as is generally the case 

 in excited colonies. Between nine and ten o'clock in the morning the first ones flew away. 103 



99 The following observation proves how little bees acdustomed to the hive's place and surroundings 

 regard the place from which they fly in their swift exit. If the second hive-entrance, which is in the 

 upper honey-chamber (super) is opened for days bees will be seen leaving from this entrance but never 

 entering it." The entering takes place constantly in the usual path through the entrance below. Only by 

 and by bees begin to fly into the tipper one (cf. p. 40). 



100 I quote the following from a private letter from Dr. Dzierzon, a distinguished bee-keeper to 

 whom we are indebted for the discovery of parthenogenesis in Apis mellifica. Dzierzon died last year 96 

 years old. "There is not the slightest doubt that bees find their way back to the hive in the way you have 

 described, guided by pictures of their dwelling and the near surroundings gathered as they flew away. 

 Instinct is the explanation in so far as they are led to observe accurately the position of their dwelling 

 and the nearest surroundings in the first flight out. On account o>£ this, as you know, in the first flight, 

 (Vorspiel), they turn around; and, forming small and then larger circles? gain an exact impression of 

 the neighborhood and the hive. I have often wondered at the rapidity with which they are able to do 

 this. I brought a hive from a distant apiary, and on opening the entrance a few bees flew out, probably 

 for water, not suspecting the removal. In the mild weather they were not lost, but came back to the 

 same place, and soon the flying after water was going on as if ijfothing had happened. Thus qiuickly a 

 part of the bees had become accustomed to flying in the new apiary," etc. Even thou,gh thiq letter con- 

 tains no new knowledge of the biology of the bee, yet it seems to me that its publication is appropriate, 

 in view of Bethe's opinions following. 



101 As was mentioned before (see p. 19), the leader of the bee-keepers' school at Baden observed 

 that his bee's returned from a buckwheat-field six kilometers away, with full burdens, on the average in 

 thirty minutes. 



102 It is a pity that we can not learn how these bees acted, whether they oriented themselves, etc. 



108 Accordingly this appears to have been a*, cool autumn or spring day, else it is inexplicable why 

 the bees hesitated so long with their flying-out. Or was it windy or rainy weather ? Or were the bees 

 wearied with the transportation ? 



