The history interesdng on aceount of and perbaps is the more perplexing, mixture of and apparently contradictory the extraordinary Eveiyone knows the Humhle simplicity and complication. everyone who can say, upon seeing a Bees hut it is not

Humble Bee, to which species it belongs. Eighteen species of

Humble Bee exist in this country, and, except in some of the

more prominent species, it is not easy to identify the insects. Varieties in colour and size are almost interminable, especially among the males ; and so striking are these varieties, that Mr. Smith did not dare to publish his researches on the Humble Bees until he had worked for more than twenty years at them. The result of his labours has been — as is the result of all true labour — simplification. He has found that no less than seven species described by Kirby are but varieties of the Carder Humble Bee, and that six more so-called species are varieties of the Meadow Humble Bee.

OuB first example of these insects is the Carder Bee {Bombas muscorum), so called on account of the curious manner in which it constructs its nest. One of these insects is represented on Plate XII. Fig. 2, in the act of flying, and with its tongue extended. Part of the nest itself is seen below, with one of the inhabitants just entering it.

The colouring and dimensions of this Bee are exceedingly variable, but the following description is that which has been decided upon by Mr. F. Smith The Bee is very hairy, and the general colour of the female is black, with the face covered with dull yellow down. The thorax is orange above, yellow on the sides, and grey beneath. The abdomen is more or less banded with black. The male is less than the female, and has the down on the head of pale yellow, becoming blackish on the crown. The abdomen is yellowish-grey, with severa .11-dehoed dark band. half The worker is oftenlrely

the size of the male, and in sembling the female. colour almost exactly re-

The habits of tliis species are very interesting. During the winter, a number of females or ‘ queens ’ lie torpid, as do those of the wasp and hornet, in any convenient crevice that they can find, seldom if ever remaining for that purpose in the^nest 01 of Wns HrnS ott?‘‘'‘‘' “T" haystacks, the thatch and outhouses, and similar localities, are much favoured y hese females, the intended progenitors of future

n the spring, the colonies Bees recover consciousness and m

to work in B B searching after Ht spots for nest-building Zs

very interesting to watch a Carder Bee thus engaged. In the early part of the present year, I watched for nearly an hour the proceedings of a Carder Bee, who fortunately restricted herself to a small patch of ground. The soil is very light, partly covered with ferns, and on it are one or two oak trees, one of large size. There is also plenty of moss within a few yards, so that the locality is a very favourable one. As long as she was on the wing I had to be very quiet, as she would have taken alarm at a sudden movement, but whenever she settled I was able to approach her quite closely. She investigated almost every inch of ground, trying it 'in all directions, and apparently testing the character of the soil by scratching it with her feet. At last, she evidently fixed upon a convenient spot — a small hollow in the ground near the roots of an oak.

She was so absorbed in her work, that I was able to kneel down and watch her through a magnifying glass without disturbing her. At last, I thought I would try a small practical joke, and built over her a small hut of twigs and leaves. She was still so preoccupied that she took no notice, until I pushed her gently with a grass stem through the interstices of the hut. This treatment roused her from her abstraction, and she bounced up against the roof of the miniature hut in great perturbation, at last forcing her way through it, and going off at full speed and with an angry hum.

When the Bee has fixed upon a suitable spot, she procures some vegetable substance, generally moss, but sometimes dead leaves, grass, fern-fronds, &c., and draws them through her legs, much as wool is carded. With these materials she builds a sort of low dome, so arranged as to harmonise with surrounding objects, and look like a mere swelling of the ground. Mr. F. Smith mentions an instance in which the Bee flew into a stable, and carried off a quantity of horsehair, which she wove ; into a nest as if it had been moss. In order to preserve the f interior from rain, she lines the dome with a coarse wax, similar A though not in quality, to that of the Hive Bee, and 3 in nature, protection she makes a series of cells. These cells a under its are not in the least like the delicate, sharply defined, hex- ft, cells of the Hive Bee, but are oval, and distributed ft agonal almost at random. • ' f

In them are laid the eggs which at first produce worker | being needful in order to help the Queen Bee in 1 Bees, they

Plate Xii. Humble Bees.

Bombus lucorum (Female). 2. Bombus muacorum (Female). 3. Apathus vestalis (Female). 4. Eucera longicornis (Male).

Plants : — Ha-wlborn. Above. Sea Campion (Silene maritima). Below.

forming a large colony. The larvas soon become full-fed, and then spin a silken cocoon, in which they pass their helpless state. When they have attained the perfect condition, they gnaw round the top of their cocoons, and escape by means of tlie circular orifice. When they first emerge, their colours are very ill-defined, and several days elapse before the long down with which they are so profusely clothed changes to its varied and beautiful colourinof. O

On Plate XII. Fig. 1, is shown another well-known species of Humble Bee, with her nest. This is the Wood Humble Bee {Bomhus liicdrum). The colour of this Bee is black, with the front of the thorax and the second segment of the abdomen yellow, and the end of the body white. The worker is scarcely half the size of the perfect female, but is coloured after the same fashion. The male is intermediate in size, and has the face, the front of the thorax, the scutellum, and the two first segments of the abdomen yellow, and the three last segments of the belly white. Beneath it is yellowish-white, and on the tibiae is a fringe of yellow hairs.

This is one of the earliest of the Humble Bees in appearing, and IS generally spread over the kingdom. Like one or two other species, it makes its nest underground, and is rather a ferocious sort of Bee, resenting even an approach to its nest, and using Its large sting very freely. Many persons have an idea tbat_ Humble Bees cannot sting, an idea that is probablv originated from the fact that at certain times of the year the tbe^femTles'^^'''^' Plentiful than

Hot that they are more numerous, but that we see more of them, because the male Bees have no hard duties to perform at home They co lect no honey nor pollen, they secrete no wax, they build no cells, and they nurse no young. Those Bees within the nest are almost invariably females, while those which roam about at their ease from flower to flower are very often males and consequently cannot sting their captors. If anyone doubts whether the female Humble Beea ha/e etinge, letTm attack le nest of any of the unrlerground species, particularly tint of the Stone Humble Bee, and he will be speedily convinced XL error. I have taken the nest B B of 2 most of the^ritirHulbL

Bees, and can testify that, whereas the females of the Carder Bees take such attacks quietly, and seldom use their stings, those species which build underground resent the assault, and very soon let their assailants know that they have stings and can use them.

The Plate gives a very good idea of the Wood Humble Bee’s nest, and of the shape and position of the cells. The wax of which they are made is coarse and brown, and the walls of the cells are of considerable thickness. They are of various sizes, according as they are intended to serve as the habitations of females, males, or workers. Some contain honey, which is usually of a pinker hue than that of the Hive Bee, and is peculiarly sweet and fragrant. It is, however, seldom fit for food, as it gives a violent headache to most persons, myself among the number. I have suffered severely from a hard, throbbing headache, caused by eating scarcely a teaspoonful of this insect’s honey, before I found out its evil qualities. It is a pity that the honey should have such an effect, for it is far superior in flavour to that of the Hive Bee, having a sort of delicate perfume about it.

The size as well as the position of the nest differs greatly. Sometimes there are but a few cells, and sometimes the colony is so strong that there are about two hundred cells in the nert. The depth in the ground also varies, much as does that of the common wasp, and for the same reason. The Humble Bee very seldom, if ever, makes the whole of the excavation in which her nest is placed, but takes advantage of a deserted mouse-hole, and scoops out the earth wherever she finds it most convenient.

Another species, the Stone Humble Bee (Bcmihus lapidarius), is drawn on Woodcut XXXVII. Figs. 2, 3, and 4. At Fig. 2 is shown the perfect female, or Queen Bee ; 3 is the impei’fect female, or worker, and 4 the male, these figures being of the average size of the sexes. This is the ‘ red-hipped Humble Bee ’ of Shakspeare, and is a very familiar insect. The female is black, with the three last segments of the abdomen bright rusty-red. The w'orker is coloured like the female, and the male is black, with yellow down on the face, top of the head, and collar. Yellow hairs are also

scattered on the scutelliim and first segment of the abdomen, the four last segments of which are red.

This is a very common species, and derives its name of lapidarius from the fact that it always, if possible, constructs its nest under stones. Those heaps of rough stones which are often left for several years on the sides of country roads are favoured habitations of this Bee, which seems to consider that not only the particular stone-heap which it has chosen, but also a considerable surrounding space, is its own property. In most cases, the attacks of the Bees are so fierce that anyone who is tempted to linger near the heap finds himself obliged to remove at once from the vicinity of these irritable insects.

It does not, however, absolutely restrict itself to such habitations, for stone-heaps are not to be found everywhere, and so it has to put up with burrows in the ground, preferring such places as banks and the roots of trees.

On the upper part of Plate XII. Fig. 3, is represented a very remaikable insect. At first sight, anyone would say that it was a Humble Bee ; and, as the insect may be found in Humble Bees nests, it may well be ranked among their number. Yet, as we shall presently see, it must not be reckoned among these insects, and, though with them, it is scarcely of them.

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