Powers 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 occupied 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 results, 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, after which, out of thirty-two visits, twenty-two were to the orange and yellow. Another colour to which a similar preference is shown is blue.
As regards scent, Sir John found that on putting a few drops of eau de Cologne at the entrance of a beehive, 'immediately a number (about 15) came out to see what was the matter.' Other scents had a similar effect; but on repetition several times the bees became accustomed to the scent, and no longer came out.
As in ants, so in bees, Sir John's experiments failed to yield any evidence of a sense of hearing. But in this connection we must not forget the well-known fact, first observed by Huber, that the queen bee will answer by a certain sound the peculiar piping of a pupa queen; and again, by making a certain cry or humming noise, will strike consternation suddenly on all the bees in the hive—these remaining for a long time motionless as if stupefied.
Sense of Direction.
The following are Sir John Lubbock's observations upon this subject in the case of bees and wasps:—
Every one has heard of a 'bee-line.' It would be no less correct to speak of a wasp-line. On August 6 I marked a wasp, the nest of which was round the corner of the house, so that her direct way home was not out at the window by which she had entered, but in the opposite direction, across the room to a window which was closed. I watched her for some hours, during which time she constantly went to the wrong window, and lost much time in buzzing about at it. For ten consecutive days this wasp paid numerous visits, coming in at the open window, and always trying, though always unsuccessfully, to return to her nest in the 'wasp-line' of the closed window—buzzing about that window for hours at a time, though eventually on finding it closed she returned and went round through the open window by which she always entered.
This observation shows how strong must be the instinct in a wasp to take the shortest way home, and how much the insect depends upon its sense of direction in so doing. It also shows how long a time it requires to learn by individual experience the properties of a previously unknown substance such as glass. But to this latter point we shall presently have occasion to return.
Next we must adduce evidence to show that in way-finding the 'sense of direction' in bees appears to be largely supplemented by observation of particular objects.
Sir John Lubbock observes: 'I never found bees to return if brought any considerable distance at once. By taking them, however, some twenty yards each time they came to the honey, I at length trained them to come to my room;' that is to say, bees require to learn their way little by little before they can return to a store of honey which they may have been fortunate enough to find; their general sense of direction is not in itself a sufficient guide. This, at least, is the case where, as in the experiments in question, the bees are carried from the hive to the store of honey (here a distance of less than 200 yards): possibly if they had found the honey by themselves flying towards it, and so probably taking note of objects by the way, one journey might have proved sufficient to teach them the way. But, whether or not this would have been the case, the fact that when carried they required also to be taught the way piece by piece, is conclusive proof that their sense of direction alone is not sufficient to enable them to traverse a route of 200 yards a second time.