No. 542] 



COLOR SENSE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



99 



honey I fastened a single yellow "immortelle" one inch 

 across. The individual flower enjoyed the advantage of 

 position since it stood where the cluster had heen before. 

 Honey was placed on all the flowers. At 11:50 a.m., 

 there were nine Italian bees and a Syrpliid fly on the 

 cluster of flowers and three Italian bees and one fly on the 

 single flower. The larger and more conspicuous object 

 notwithstanding its changed position received the greater 

 number of visitors. 22 



The following experiments were made in 1910, and only 

 black bees were employed. As in the experiments of the 

 preceding' year, the bees were trained to visit the same 

 dull gray board placed upon a support two feet high. < >n 

 September 14, 1910, at 12:40 p.m., the bees were carrying 

 away syrup of sugar from the feeder. Nine feet from its 

 base I put out on the grass of the lawn a dried yellow 

 flower of Helichrysum bracteatum 1{ inches in diameter, 

 containing a small quantity of honey. On the opposite 

 side of the feeder at a distance of nine feet from its base 

 I laid a Eed Astrachan apple leaf, 2 inches long by 1£ 

 wide, on the center of which there was an ample supply 

 of honey. There were at least twenty-five bees on the 

 board and later the number increased. At 12 :55 they had 

 wholly consumed the sugar syrup. At 1 :07 a bee came to 

 the flower, but left almost immediately. At 1 :10 a second 

 bee came to the flower, but soon left, and a few moments 

 later a third visit was made in the same way. No bees 

 had found the leaf. As the honey was excellent I could 

 account for the brief stop made by the bees only mi the 

 ground that they were looking for sugar syrup, in the 

 next experiment this was offered to them. 



At 1:20 p.m., I again put sugar syrup on the feeder, 

 and removed the flower and leaf from the grass. Another 

 "immortelle" 1| ins. in diameter and another Red As- 

 trachan apple leaf, 2 inches long by H inches wide, were 

 laid on the grass on directly opposite sides of the feeder, 



