flower at a time, visiting hundreds of blossoms in succession, and passing over other species that may be mixed with them."[1]
Frank R. Cheshire.—"The curious habit of the Apidæ of visiting one kind of flower only during any single excursion."[2]
R.M. Christy.—"So far as Table I. goes, it will be seen that the Hive-Bee is perfectly methodical in its habits."[3]
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."[4]
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. |
