Bill Truesdell responded to a comment by Rick Green, in part:

>There is nothing wrong with instinct. It has kept all of us alive for a
>long time. But to deny it and substitute intelligence is poor science
>and can lead to a host of incorrect assumptions.

   On p. 246 in my 1845 copy of Thomas Nutt's book, HUMANITY TO BEES... I
found the following comment by the editor, Rev. Thomas Clark:

"...[Bees] are devoid of reason: unerring instinct is their guide in all
they do; of other rules and principles they have no need."

******

   In 1946 (SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN), von Frisch echoed that sentiment:

The brain of a bee is the size of a grass seed and is not made for
thinking.  The actions of bees are mainly governed by instinct. ..."

*******



   Recently, a few researchers have attempted to ascribe extraordinary
mental powers(e.g., "cognition," judgement) to bees, but that's another
issue.

                                                        Adrian

Adrian M. Wenner                    (805) 963-8508 (home phone)
967 Garcia Road                     (805) 893-8062  (UCSB FAX)
Santa Barbara, CA  93106  [http://www.beesource.com/pov/wenner/index.htm]

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*
*    "We not only believe what we see:
*  to some extent we see what we believe."
*
*                           Richard Gregory (1970)
*
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