No. 539] 



THE BEHAVIOR OF BEES 



669 



that the behavior of visiting bees toward the American 

 upland blossoms and the dissimilar Asiatic Hawasaki 

 would perhaps serve to distinguish between the effects of 

 color and form as compared with odor in inducing the 

 visits of bees into cotton blossoms. Eesults indicate that 

 the Hawasaki blossom, although quite unfamiliar to our 

 native bees, is nearly as frequently inspected as our 

 American upland blossoms. 



From the readiness with which bees are led to inspect 

 the Hawasaki blossoms, single detached cotton petals 

 and the white convolvulus blossom even after it had 

 become greatly wilted and collapsed, it is evident that 

 they are not at first sight led to distinguish cotton 

 blossoms from other blossoms, etc., by their character- 

 istic form and color alone. Only by a nearer approach 

 does the process of inspection become more discrimi- 

 nating in its nature with regard to the kind of blossom. 



Experiment No. 22. — July 29. Period of observation 

 one half hour, from 2 :10 to 2 :40 p.m. Two blossoms were 

 used on two adjacent plants in the same row and similarly 

 exposed. 



{a) Blossom of American upland which had opened 

 the day before and in consequence had become deep 

 reddish purple in color. 



(b) Control. Normal, recently opened cream-colored 

 blossom of same variety. 



No. 22 



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26 















Some time after midday, depending upon prevailing 

 weather conditions, the recently expanded cream-colored 

 cotton blossoms of that day slowly begin to close again 

 and assume a reddish color, which by the second day is a 



