REARING BUMBLEBEES IN ARTIFICIAL NESTS. 6l 



prepared quarters. Therefore, the elimination of the work of 

 selecting a nest, the construction of a honey pot, and the collection 

 of nectar and pollen should prove no obstacle to inducing the 

 queens to start colonies in confinement. In fact, my experiments 

 prove that such provisions are the secret of success in rearing 

 bumblebee colonies in captivity. The method involved is simply 

 a case of substituting artificial materials and objects for those 

 naturally found or made by the queens. In my artificial nest as 

 described above the queen finds herself in a position or environ- 

 ment which would be attained naturally only after days of 

 patient labor. The instincts associated with the early start of a 

 colony are so fixed that the queens often proceed with work in 

 these artificial nests that is unnecessary. As an example of this 

 I may state that bumblebee queens under such conditions often 

 proceed to make changes in the artificial honey pot and in some 

 instances build a new one. 



The artificial nests should be prepared in sufficient numbers 

 before the queens are on the wing in spring, except that the pollen 

 lump should not be placed in the nest until the queens are 

 introduced. I have always kept a close watch on the advance 

 of the spring season and almost the first day of the appearance 

 of the queens caught them for my experiments. In the vicinity 

 of Urbana, Illinois, the queens of various species appear at 

 different times and in order to get queens of all the species 

 commonly found in this locality, it is necessary to prolong the 

 collecting period over an extended time. The queens were 

 captured in an ordinary insect net and then brought alive to 

 the laboratory in mailing tubes. On arriving at the laboratory 

 the queens were immediately removed and placed in large glass 

 aquarium jars. Corrugated paper was placed on the bottom of 

 these jars to afford the queens a suitable walking surface and 

 the top of the jar was covered with several layers of cheese cloth 

 to prevent their escape. Food was supplied them by scattering 

 small bits of pollen about the bottom of their prison and by 

 placing diluted honey in a tin-container fastened in the center 

 of the corrugated bottom. In these jars the bees found plenty 

 of food and ample opportunity for exercise. Besides keeping 

 the queens at all times well fed, exercise seems to be essential. 



