I have repeatedly observed with various kinds of flowers that all the
hive and humble-bees which were sucking through the perforations, flew
to them, whether on the upper or under side of the corolla, without the
least hesitation; and this shows how quickly all the individuals within
the district had acquired the same knowledge. Yet habit comes into play
to a certain extent, as in so many of the other operations of bees. Dr.
Ogle, Messrs. Farrer and Belt have observed in the case of Phaseolus
multiflorus that certain individuals went exclusively to the
perforations, while others of the same species visited only the mouths
of the flowers. (11/17. Dr. Ogle 'Pop. Science Review' April 1870 page
167. Mr. Farrer 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History' 4th series
volume 2 1868 page 258. Mr. Belt in a letter to me.) I noticed in 1861
exactly the same fact with Trifolium pratense. So persistent is the
force of habit, that when a bee which is visiting perforated flowers
comes to one which has not been bitten, it does not go to the mouth, but
instantly flies away in search of another bitten flower. Nevertheless, I
once saw a humble-bee visiting the hybrid Rhododendron azaloides, and it
entered the mouths of some flowers and cut holes into the others. Dr.
Hermann Muller informs me that in the same district he has seen some
individuals of Bombus mastrucatus boring through the calyx and corolla
of Rhinanthus alecterolophus, and others through the corolla alone.
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