BREEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH BREMUS QUEENS. 337 



H. Prison ('17, '18, '21). In addition to the colony which he 

 reared artificially, Mr. Prison ('17, '21) had under observation 

 several nests of natural origin, one of which was taken on Sept- 

 ternber 6, 1917. It was situated in a hollow cement block in the 

 foundation of a small cabin, and contained 3 young queens, 

 3 males, and 15 workers 10 living and 5 dead besides several 

 others which were out foraging when the nest was taken. Another 

 nest, examined July 26, 1919, at Clyman Junction, Wis., was 

 situated about i| ft. below the surface of the ground, and con- 

 tained the old queen, 12 workers, 15 eggs, and some larvae and 

 pupae of Bremus aiiricomus as well as a disabled Psithyrus labori- 

 osus queen. In addition to these three colonies, Mr. Prison ('17) 

 had under observation another which was started in an artificial 

 nest which had been placed in a clay embankment. 



According to Mr. Prison ('18), Bremus auricomus is rather 

 gentle in disposition. Concerning the colony which he took 

 on September 6, 1917, he has the following to say: 'The bumble- 

 bees were very docile when the nest was removed, for instead of 

 flying angrily from the nest, the most they did was to run ex- 

 citedly about on the comb and buzz loudly." 



Fraternus GROUP. 



I. Bremus rufocinctiis Cresson. 



As in the preceding case, I was unable to obtain queens of 

 this species in the vicinity of Boston. Comparatively little is 

 know T n about the nesting habits of Bremus rufocinctiis. According 

 to Franklin ('12/13, PP- 444~445)> Putnam ('64) took a nest of 

 this species at Bridport, Vt., in September, 1863. It was proba- 

 bly situated under the clapboards of a house, about eight feet 

 from the gound, and contained 28 adult bees and 35 cells with 

 young. 



Judging from Putnam's (p. 99) account, Bremus rufocinctiis is 

 one of the more savage species. 



II. Bremus separatus Cresson. 



On May 15, a queen of this species which had been captured at 

 Peabody, Mass., was turned over to me by Dr. L. H. Taylor. 

 She had lost a part of one of her antennae and, although given a 

 separatus worker, refused to take any interest in the nesting ma- 

 terial. She was found dead in the nest-box on June 9. 



