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Tin: 



large number of flowers a small drop of honey. From a 

 number of other stems I removed all the corollas and all 

 conspicuous buds, and between the green calyx teeth I 

 also put a drop of honey. So abundant was the honey on 

 the green calyces that it could be seen at a distance of 

 four feet. I could detect no scent in the complete flowers ; 

 certainly they seem to possess none comparable with that 

 of honey. The two clusters of plants, the one decorallated 

 and the other with its flowers complete, were placed on 

 opposite sides of a glass of water, which was set near the 

 entrance of a hive of black bees. The bees immediately 

 showed a decided preference for the flowers retaining their 

 corollas, as many as five visiting them at one time ; while 

 there were no bees on the denuded flowers though they 

 were on the side of the glass nearer the hive. Later the 

 bees discovered, as was to be expected, the honey on the 

 green calyces and removed it. It is evident that to place 

 honey on small green flowers, as in the experiments of 

 Plateau with grasses and sedges, and when it is finally 

 found by insects to conclude that conspicuousness is not 

 an advantage is unjustifiable. The bees gave a decided 

 preference to the brighter-colored flowers, and the fact 

 that they subsequently discovered and removed the honey 

 from the green calyces furnishes no evidence whatever 

 against the benefit of color contrast. 



But a method of experimenting was wanted, which 

 would permit of varying the conditions under which the 

 conspicuous and inconspicuous objects were exposed, and 

 of counting the number of visits to each. This was ob- 

 tained in the following manner: A small number of 

 honey-bees were trained to visit for honey an unpainted, 

 dull-gray board raised upon a support two feet high. A 

 short time before the honey, which was placed directly on 

 the board, was wholly removed, a conspicuous and an 

 inconspicuous object were placed at equal distances from 

 the board and at a known distance from each other. As 

 soon as the bees had consumed the honey they began 

 describing a series of ever widening circles in search of 

 a new supply until one or both of the above-mentioned 



