Nevertheless each bee before it has had much practice, must
lose some time in making each new perforation, especially when the
perforation has to be made through both calyx and corolla. This action
therefore implies foresight, of which faculty we have abundant evidence
in their building operations; and may we not further believe that some
trace of their social instinct, that is, of working for the good of
other members of the community, may here likewise play a part?
Many years ago I was struck with the fact that humble-bees as a general
rule perforate flowers only when these grow in large numbers near
together. In a garden where there were some very large beds of Stachys
coccinea and of Pentstemon argutus, every single flower was perforated,
but I found two plants of the former species growing quite separate with
their petals much scratched, showing that they had been frequently
visited by bees, and yet not a single flower was perforated. I found
also a separate plant of the Pentstemon, and saw bees entering the mouth
of the corolla, and not a single flower had been perforated. In the
following year (1842) I visited the same garden several times: on the
19th of July humble-bees were sucking the flowers of Stachys coccinea
and Salvia grahami in the proper manner, and none of the corollas were
perforated. On the 7th of August all the flowers were perforated, even
those on some few plants of the Salvia which grew at a little distance
from the great bed.
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