CHAPTER XV. 
BEES AND WASPS. 
Arranging this chapter under the same general headings 
as the one on ants, we shall consider first — 
Poivers of Special Sense . 
Bees and wasps have much greater powers of sight 
than ants. They not only perceive objects at a greater 
distance, but are also able to distinguish their colours. 
This was proved by Sir John Lubbock, who placed honey 
on slips of paper similarly formed, but of different colours ; 
when a bee had repeatedly visited a slip of one colour (A), 
he transposed the slips during the absence of the bee ; on 
its return the insect did not fly to slip B, although this now 
occupied the position which had been previously occupied 
by slip A, but again visited slip A, although this now occu- 
pied the position which had been previously occupied by 
slip B. Therefore, as these experiments were again and 
again repeated both on bees and wasps with uniform re- 
sults, there can be no question that the insects by their 
first visits to slip A established an association between 
the colour of A and the honey upon it, such that, when 
they again returned and found B in the place of A, they 
were guided by their memory of the colour rather than 
by their memory of the position. It was thus shown that 
the insects could distinguish green, red, yellow, and blue. 
These experiments also brought out the further fact that 
both bees and wasps exhibit a marked preference for some 
colours over others. Thus, in a series of black, white, 
yellow, orange, green, blue, and red slips, two or three 
bees paid twenty-one visits to the orange and yellow, and 
only four to all the other slips. The slips were then moved, 
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