68 Sir George Mackenzie on the Vision of Bees. 
house, I had the curiosity to examine where they had their 
nest, and I went in, leaving the door half open. I saw the bees 
coming from a hole in the floor near the wall, and the instant 
they arrived at the margin of the light admitted by the door, 
they took wing, although at the distance of several feet from 
the spot from which they usually rose into the air. I varied 
the position of this margin or division between the light and 
darkness, but> this made no difference, the bees in every case 
beginning their flight as soon as they reached the light. While 
the door was open, I noticed that the bees which arrived ap- 
peared to be completely puzzled by the alteration of the posi- 
tion of the door. Some of them alighted, and wandered 'about 
in all directions on the floor, crossing repeatedly the direct path 
to the nest, but never following it. A very few, by accident 
apparently, got close to the wall, and reached the nest. Those 
which chanced to alight near the same part of the door by 
which they had been accustomed to enter, immediately went 
through, but from the position of the door, they passed in the 
direction opposite their nest. As soon as they got within the 
door, they became as much puzzled as the others. Many flew 
away, as if to try a new route homewards. As soon as I shut 
the door, remaining in the inside, the bees on entering turned 
directly towards the hole in the floor ; and none of them going 
attempted to fly till they reached the light. I was cruel enough 
to repeat the experiment several times, and each time to keep 
the homeward-bound labourers in suspense and difficulty for 
some minutes. 
These facts seem to prove that bees, although by some means 
they rapidly and unerringly traverse the air, cannot discover a 
track on the ground, when the usual marks are removed. 
They did not discover it even when they met other bees com- 
ing out, a proof that they have no means of communication, 
but that each insect depends on its own instinct exclusively. 
I made an experiment on the hive bee, by lifting the hive, and 
placing it a few yards, three or four, from the place where it 
usually stood. I was of course stung for my pains ; but I had 
the satisfaction to see the returning bees pass quite close to the 
hive where it now stood, and go on to the spot where it had 
