“22 62S 2 es OS es Se See eee 
40 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
captured about 7.30 a.m., by which time some had their 
pollen sacks partly filled, while others appeared to be 
gathering honey only, and had no pollen. 
The result was always the same, and the time of death 
was quite independent of whether the bees were pollen 
laden or otherwise. When first placed in confinement, the 
bees are lively and active, but gradually one after an- 
other becomes sluggish, until finally they crawl feebly 
about, then remain stationary, making slight movements 
of limbs and wings, until they curl up their legs and die. 
Bees roll about most energetically in poppy blossoms, 
apparently revelling in the supply of pollen, and are 
easily caught by shutting blossom and inmates in a tin 
box. In pumpkin blossoms they are readily captured by 
gently closing the mouth of the blossom with the fingers. 
Bees visiting such plants as sweet peas, larkspur, plantago, 
etc., where honey is the objective, are much more alert, 
and require a net for capture. In the poppy and other 
highly polleniferous blossoms, the bees seemingly become 
so intent on the work of pollen collection’ as to be some- 
what oblivious to danger. 
I have experimented as above with a large number 
of bees from the different blossoms mentioned and from 
the hive, at seasons when poppies were and were not in 
blossom, and always with the same result. It appears to 
me that worker bees are intolerent of confinement away 
from the hive, and that they quickly fret to death. We 
know that in observation hives they can be confined with- 
out ill effects, but when kept away from the hive in con- 
finement, my experience is that they quickly die. It is 
interesting to note that bees which have been overtaken 
by darkness at a distance from the hive, will camp under 
leaves and such-like, and return first thing in the morn- 
ing with their spoils of nectar or pollen. Evidently, 
therefore, the fact of confinement seems to have a dis- 
astrous effect on the nervous system of the bee. 
It would thus appear, in so far as my observations 
go, that there is no evidence that the poppy blossom has 
a, deleterious effect on the bee. I cannot explain the 
statement of the gentleman above-mentioned, to the ef- 
fect that bees taken from the hive did not die when con- 
fined, as my experience with a large number was uni- 
formly to the contrary. 
