No. 539] 



THE BEHAVIOR OF BEES 



673 



these must now necessarily constitute the sole allure- 

 ment. 



At (b) normal blossom pinned in position. The tips 

 of the petals were lightly smeared with honey. 



At (c) control. Normal cotton blossom pinned in 

 position. 



Data fob Experiment No. 27 



As shown in previous experiments, the removal of the 

 petals no longer advertises a cotton blossom to the notice 

 of bees. The same results are obtained when the petals 

 are no longer visible, although still attached to the 

 blossom as at (a). It is natural to suppose that the pres- 

 ence of honey would add appreciably to the zone of 

 alluring odors surrounding the blossom. 



Without the conspicuous corolla to invite inspection, 

 however, the bees are not led to approach sufficiently 

 near to discover the blossom by its attendant odors alone. 

 These results are not in agreement with some of the 

 general conclusions of Plateau in his noteworthy mem- 

 oirs: "Comment les fleures attirent les insectes." He 

 states: "Les insectes visitent activement les inflores- 

 cences qui n'ont subi aucune mutilation mais dont la 

 forme et les couleurs sont masquees par des feuilles 

 vertes." 3 This would follow only when other attractive 

 influences were actively operative, as various odors 

 agreeable to bee visitors. 



■ Experiment No. 28— August 1. Time of observation 

 one half hour, from 9 :30 to 10 :00 a.m. This experiment 

 makes use of most of the material and the same positions 

 of the preceding, with the changes as follows: 



* Bulletin de I'AcadSmie royale des Sciences, No. 11, November, 1895. 



