BREEDING EXPERIMENTS WITH BREMUS QUEENS. 335 



showed no interest in the nesting material, three workers of 

 Bremus bimaculatus were placed in her nest-box on June 14, but 

 she would have nothing to do with them, and three days later, 

 two small workers of Bremus impatiens were substituted for the 

 three bimaculatus workers. With these two workers, the ternarius 

 queen made friends and a few days later began nest-building. 

 The first batch of eggs was laid about June 21, and the first 

 ternarius w r orker hatched on July 14. By July 16, six more 

 workers had emerged. The two workers of Bremus impatiens 

 were then removed, and the young ternarius colony was left to 

 shift for itself. By August 13, the number of workers had in- 

 creased to seventeen, and a few weeks later, several newly- 

 hatched ternarius males were present in the nest. At the begin- 

 ning of September, the queen showed signs of becoming feeble, 

 and on September 10, disappeared from the nest. The last 

 workers died during the first week of October. 



Very little is known concerning the nesting habits of Bremus 

 ternarius. During the summer of 1863, Putnam ('64) took a 

 nest * of this species at Bridport, Vt., on the borders of Lake 

 Champlain. It was situated either under an old stump or under 

 the clapboards o'f a house. 



In the vicinity of Boston, Bremus ternarius is exceedingly rare. 

 The queens, like those of Bremus vagans, seem to leave their 

 winter quarters comparatively late in the spring. Most nests are 

 probably started between the I5th of May and the I5th of June. 

 If this assumption is correct, the first workers ought to appear 

 shortly after June I. As in most other New England species, the 

 males and queens are probably produced chiefly during August 

 and September. 



Putnam (p. 99) states that Bremus ternarius is far more savage 

 than Bremus fervidus, the latter species, according to this author, 

 being "of quite a gentle disposition." However, I found both of 

 these species to be extremely vicious. In other respects, the 

 behavior of Bremus ternarius reminds one very much of that of 

 Bremus per plexus and Bremus vagans. 



1 The other nest which Packard ('64) and Putnam ('64) considered as belonging 

 to Bremus ternarius, according to Franklin ('12/13, PP- 444-445). was probably a 

 nest of Bremus rufocinclus. 



