No.o3Sj 



THE BEHAVIOR OF BEES 



appeared. Later in the season the visits of the extremely 

 common Melissodes bimaculata suddenly fell off, and the 

 common honey bee {Apis melUfiat L.) became more fre- 

 quent in its visits. For reasons rather difficult to explain, 

 honey bees at the beginning of the experiments were 

 very rare visitors. 



The observations and conclusions apply mainly to the 

 behavior of species of Melissodes. A count was made of 

 every bee which gave definite evidence that it had per- 

 ceived the blossoms under observation. These records 

 also included the number of times bees actually alighted 

 upon or entered them. Many bees which do not enter a 

 blossom frequently indicate that they have perceived it 

 by a sudden pause or quick turn toward it momentarily. 

 The manner and thoroughness of these inspections by 

 bees ranges from the merest swerve and hesitation in 

 their flight to a close and scrupulous scrutiny of the 

 blossoms from all sides as they hover over them. At all 

 times it is evident that the actual number of entrances 

 into a blossom is small when compared with the number 

 of inspections without entering. Just why so many bees 

 inspect a normal blossom and refuse to enter is not clear. 

 This is more particularly the rule with species of 

 Melissodes. 



It is not long till one can readily identify the more 

 important bee visitors within certain limits by their 

 different flight characteristics. Bees of the species 

 Melissodes bimaculata appear as black, swift-flying, 

 nervous bees, and are readily determined by their hasty 

 movements among the cotton plants. The species of 

 bumble bees, the common honey bee and Elis plumipes 

 are more labored in their flights from blossom to blossom. 

 The wasp, Elis plumipes, usually flies very slowly and 

 seems to find it necessary to alight on a blossom in order 

 to inspect it to advantage. 



At the beginning of the experiments three blossoms 



were they connected by straight lines. In some of the 



