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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



I replaced the second white box, but for the red slide I 

 substituted a plain glass one. A bee found it almost 

 immediately, probably one of the earlier visitors. The 

 slide was now carried to a third position and placed upon 

 an unpainted support fifteen feet from each of the white 

 boxes, the three stations forming the angles of an equi- 

 lateral triangle. Here it was soon found by two bees. 

 The plain glass slide was then placed on the grass in the 

 center of the triangle, where it was quickly discovered 

 by two bees and a third came a little later. The slide was 

 now placed on the grass fifteen feet outside of the equi- 

 lateral triangle. It was so inconspicuous that a child, 

 who under my direction approached within a foot of it, 

 failed to see it until a bee alighted in the grass. It re- 

 quired twenty minutes for the bees to find it, and perhaps 

 they would not have done so then had it not been near the 

 route they were pursuing in going back and forth to the 

 hive. It is very evident from this experiment that a 

 force of bees searching for nectar or honey are not easily 

 deceived, but perceive very keenly. The slide was in 

 the sunlight and the attractive influences were the re- 

 flected light, the yellow color of the honey (it was golden- 

 rod honey, which is amber-colored), and its odor. 



In view of the above observations it can excite no sur- 

 prise that the bees passed readily under the green leaves 

 which Plateau had pinned on top of the Dahlia capitula. 

 The factors by which they were guided were memory and 

 the senses of sight and smell. When the bees returned 

 they found the covered dahlias still in their original posi- 

 tion, and though they were not bright colored from above 

 they possessed conspicuousness of size and form; and 

 when the bees in flying about saw the form and color of 

 the rays from beneath and perceived the characteristic 

 odor they recognized promptly the presence of dahlia 

 flowers. Plateau's contention that the form and color 

 of the under side of the capitulum, which was plainly 

 visible, exerted no influence because the insects very 

 rarely approached the head from that side, is without 

 force, for the bees never having found the nectar on the 



