THE INTEREST IN INSECTS 



21 



THE GOLDEN HACK WASP AT THE MOU 

 HKR BURROW. 



OF 



This was pretty clearly illustrated by 

 an incident witnessed just before I 

 caught my train. A bumble bee, 

 (Bombus fervidus) was very busy 

 gathering honev from the small How- 

 ers. Innocent of purpose and quite 

 unguarded it flew direct]}- to a spray 

 that branched above the wasp's bur- 

 row and the golden back, nut having 

 a concise knowledge of entomology or 

 the habits of her own near cousins. 

 darted upon the bee forthwith, bring- 

 ing it to the ground, where a short 

 and terrific struggle took place. Jt was 

 difficult to follow the methods oi attack 

 and defense practised by both contes- 

 tants. The}- used both jaws and stings. 

 the latter evidently of little avail 

 against the hard chitinous armor of 

 which all the adult Hymenoptera arc 

 possessed, but evidently the jaws did 

 some damage for the bee struggled 

 loose and with a wing much torn flew 

 clumsily away to a plant near, where 

 it rested. Its body was perhaps other- 

 wise considerably bruised and battered. 

 The wasp was as lively as before and 

 had sustained no injur}- ; its activities 

 quite overmatched the heavy bumble- 

 bee. I left it still patrolling the region 

 of its burrow, evidently from its late 

 encounter determined to be more vigi- 

 lant than ever. I wonder if it ever 

 relaxed its watchfulness against real 

 and supposed enemies long enough to 

 go upon another foray for its chosen 

 victims. 



"The year is dying, and the trees let 



fall 

 W ith gentle lapse their faded leaves ; 

 Sheeting the ground as with a funeral 



pali. 

 Sombre and sad." 



Their First Experience With Bees. 



When Mr. Schoonhoven, the well- 

 known biologist of Brooklyn, made his 

 visit to Arcadia, about which he wrote 

 the extended appreciation that was 

 published in the September number of 

 The Guide to Nature, he was accom- 

 panied by his wife and son, both of 

 whom manifested great interest in the 

 apiary. It appears that both of them, 

 in common with most other people, 

 possess an abnormal fear of honeybees. 

 Now it is true and not true that there 

 is reason for this fear, as previously ex- 

 plained. Bees can make a serious at- 

 tack upon persons, horses and various 

 other forms of animal life, but not un- 

 like human beings the}' usually give 

 us what we give them. If one is kind 

 and gentle, they reciprocate in the same 

 spirit ; if one is harsh and shows fight, 

 they are usually ready to fight and they 

 come out as winners. The accompany- 

 ing illustration shows Mrs. Schoon- 

 hoven and her son having their first 

 experience in getting acquainted with 

 honeybees. Observe that they used 

 neither veil or gloves. 



I am inclined to think that a kindly 

 feeling towards these insects is a bet- 

 ter protection than gloves or veil, and 

 yet I am perfectly willing to admit that 



AIRS. T. T. SCHOONHOVEN AND SON. GEORGE 

 o. SCHOONHOVEN. 



there are times when the kindly feeling 

 is of no avail. Just as with people, 

 kindness and good wdl bring back 

 the equivalent — except sometimes ! 



