ABSTRACT
In 1880, the Victorian naturalist Sir John Lubbock became aware that ants can track their nestmates to rewarding food sources. Lubbock believed that ants were following scent trails, and even went as far as to suggest something approaching a form of chemical language (Lubbock 1882). While he was not so generous about bees-“[Honey] bees do not bring their friends to share any treasure they have discovered” (Lubbock 1882, p. 278)—others were less dismissive. The German pastor Ernst Spitzner wrote of honey bees: “Full of joy, they twirl in circles about those in the hive … in a few minutes, after these had made it known to the others, they came in great numbers to the place!” (Spitzner 1788; cited in Lindauer 1985, p. 192).
