The Zoologist/4th series, vol 6 (1902)/Issue 732/The Constancy of the Bee

by G.W. Bulman

 

THE CONSTANCY OF THE BEE.

By G.W. Bulman.

 

Do Bees keep to one species of flower during a single journey? There is a general consensus of opinion that they do, as the following quotations show:—

Aristotle.—"During each flight the Bee does not settle upon flowers of different kinds, but flies, as it were, from violet to violet, and touches no other species till it returns to the hive."

Dobbs.—"I have frequently followed a Bee loading the farina, bee-bread, or crude wax on its legs through part of a great field in flower, and on whatever flower it first alighted and gathered the farina, it continued gathering from that kind of flower, and passed over many other species, though very numerous in the field, without alighting on or loading from them, though the flower it chose was much scarcer than the others; so that, if it began to load from a daisy, it continued loading from the same, neglecting clover, honeysuckle, and the violet."^[1]

Darwin.—"All kinds of Bees and certain other insects usually visit the flowers of the same species as long as they can, before going to another species."^[2]

H. Müller.—"The most specialised, and especially the gregarious Bees, have produced great differentiations in colour, which enable them on their journeys to keep to a single species of flower."^[3]

Lord Avebury.—"It is a remarkable fact that in most cases Bees confine themselves in each journey to a single species of plant."^[4]

A.R. Wallace.—"Now it has been ascertained by several observers, that many insects, Bees especially, keep to one kind of flower at a time, visiting hundreds of blossoms in succession, and passing over other species that may be mixed with them."^[5]

Frank R. Cheshire.—"The curious habit of the Apidæ of visiting one kind of flower only during any single excursion."^[6]

R.M. Christy.—"So far as Table I. goes, it will be seen that the Hive-Bee is perfectly methodical in its habits."^[7]

A.W. Bennett.—"The Diptera exhibit greater constancy [than butterflies], though by no means absolute. A much greater degree of constancy is manifested by the Apidæ, and this becomes all but absolute in the Hive-Bee."^[8]

It is generally agreed that the Hive-Bee exhibits this phenomenon of constancy in the highest degree. In my own experience, the Wild Bees which I have had the opportunity of observing have shown a much greater tendency to pass from one species of flower to another than the Hive-Bee.

The following notes refer to Apis mellifica only. Each group of observations was made during one period of watching, extending sometimes to an hour and a half. They were noted in a garden during March of the present year:—

 

Bee No. 1	goes from	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Crocus.
Bee No„⁠2	goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ„ to Crocus.„
Bee No„⁠3	goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ„ to Crocus.„
Bee No„⁠4	goes from„	Crocus to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„⁠5	goes from„	Crocus„ to Chionodoxa luciliæ.„
Bee No„⁠6	goes from„	Crocus„ to Chionodoxa luciliæ.„
Bee No„⁠7	goes from„	Crocus„ to Chionodoxa luciliæ.„
Bee No„⁠8	goes from„	Crocus„to Chionodoxa luciliæ.„
Bee No„⁠9	goes from„	Crocus„⁠Snowdrop.

 

Bee No. 1	goes from	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Crocus.
Bee No„⁠2	goes from„	Erythronium dens-canis to Anemone hepatica.
Bee No„⁠3	goes from„	Crocus to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„⁠4	goes from„	Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„⁠5	goes from„	Crocus to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„⁠6	goes from„	Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„⁠7	goes from„	Anemone hepatica„ to Chionodoxa luciliæ.„
Bee No„⁠8	goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Anemone hepatica.
Bee No„⁠9	goes from„	Anemone hepatica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No„10	goes from„	Crocus to Scilla Sibirica.

 

Bee No. 1 goes from	Cyclamen Cóum to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 2 goes from„	Crocus to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 3 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 4 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 5 goes from„	Crocus to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 6 goes from„	Crocus to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 7 goes from„	Crocus to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 8 goes from„	Crocus to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„

 

Bee No. 1 goes from	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Scilla Sibirica.
Bee No.„ 2 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 3 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 4 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 5 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 6 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Chionodoxa lucilae„
Bee No.„ 7 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Crocus.
Bee No.„ 8 goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Viola odorata.

 

Bee No. 1 goes from	Muscari racemosum to Chionodoxa luciliæ.
Bee No.„ 2 goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Scilla Sibirica.
Bee No.„ 3 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.

 

Bee No. 1 goes from	Ranunculus Ficaria to Viola odorata.
Bee No.„ 2 goes from„	Ranunculus Ficaria to„ Viola odorata„
Bee No.„ 3 goes from„	Anemone hepatica to Scilla Sibirica.
Bee No.„ 4 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to Veronica Buxbaumii.
Bee No.„ 5 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to„ Anemone hepatica.
Bee No.„ 6 goes from„	Chionodoxa luciliæ to Scilla Sibirica.

 

Bee No. 1 goes from	Muscari racemosum to Viola odorata.
Bee No.„ 2 goes from„	Aubrietia Græca to Viola odorata.
Bee No.„ 3 goes from„	Viola odorata to Aubrietia Græca.
Bee No.„ 4 goes from„	Scilla Sibirica to Chionodoxa luciliæ.

 

---

1. 'Phil. Trans.' 1736.
2. 'Fertilisation of Plants,' pp. 415–16.
3. 'Fertilisation of Flowers,' p. 595.
4. 'British Wild Flowers in Relation to Insects,' p. 26.
5. 'Darwinism,' p. 318.
6. 'Bees and Bee-keeping,' vol. i. p. 319.
7. 'Proc. Linn. Soc. Zool.' vol. xvii. p. 186.
8. Ibid. p. 184.