116 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



BUMBLE BEES AND WASPS WANTED. 



Mr. F. W. L. Sladen, Assistant Entomologist for Apiculture, 

 Division of Entomology, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, is 

 making a special study of the Bumble Bees (genera Bomhus and 

 Psithyrus) and the Social Wasps (genera Vespa, Polistes and 

 Polybia). He would be glad if anyone who finds a bumble bee's 

 nest would send him a few specimens of the bees, without destroy- 

 ing the nest, so that he may determine the species. He would 

 also like to receive specimens caught on flowers, especially in out- 

 of-the-way districts. 



Bumble bees and wasps are best killed with cyanide of potas- 

 sium. Crushed tissue paper should be placed in the killing bottle 

 to absorb any moisture, which otherwise mat and spoil the coats 

 of the specimens. Wasps should not be allowed to remain in 

 cyanide fumes for long, or their yellow markings will turn red. 

 The specimens should be packed in soft tissue paper, or mounted 

 on entomological pins and labelled with the date and locality of 

 capture, and also the collector s name, and sent in a strong box, by 

 mail, to the "Dominion Entomologist, Central Experimental 

 Farm, Ottawa." Postage is free. 



Specimens should be in good condition, not faded or damaged 

 by exposure, and should include the large queens that are to be 

 found chiefly in May and June, as well as the smaller workers 

 that occur in abundance in July and the males that are common 

 in August and September. Any notes on their habits and about 

 the flowers they frequent and pollinate would be valued. 



OBITUARY. 



We regret to record the death of William Greenwood Wright 

 at San Bernardino, California, at the age of 83. Mr. Wright 

 travelled extensively on the North American continent, collecting 

 chiefly Lepidoptera. He assisted W'. H. Edwards in the prepara- 

 tion of his "Butterflies of North America", but his most import- 

 ant work was "The Butterflies of the West Coast" published in 

 1905. He contributed to this Journal. 



