306 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



displaying about ninety blossoms. Here, perhaps, we may find 

 an answer to our inquiry. Near the centre of this festive 

 array there are two bees which have retired for the night, not 

 a motion of their bodies being visible. One is Bombus virginiuSy 

 fast asleep, with her body hanging upside down, her feet care- 

 lessly grasping the flower bracts just under the flower. The 

 other smaller Bombus vaga7}s sleeps with its second pair of legs 

 spread apart, while its body rests upon the upper surface of 

 a blossom. This recalls to mind that but an hour before some 

 of the bees were .seen spending their time making their toilets. 

 With dainty combing they got rid of the sujierfluous pollen 

 and dust from their antenna" and legs preparatory to tiie night's 

 rest. Further search showed that the few bees we found on 

 the various blossoms at evening are but a small portion of 

 these insects seen during the day. What made them so numer- 

 ous on the button-bush flowers was simply the allurement of 

 sweets and nectar. Awaken one of the bees from its slumbers 

 and it will respond with a loud buzzing of wings. Perhaps, 

 before quieting down again, the insect will change its position 

 to another flower or stem, but it will not condescend to fly 

 away. At last it nuiy drop to the ground, where it is soon 

 securely hidden among tlie herbage. C'omstock relates that 

 the first broods of Bombus are workers that relieve the 

 queen of iier duties, with the one exception of laying her 

 eggs. In the late summer young queens live in the nest 

 with males and females, but in the autumn the colony dis- 

 bands, and scattering about, finally perishes, leaving only the 

 young queens, which pass the winter by hiding in some out-of- 

 the-way nook. 



About the time the last bird sounds are dying away, and the 

 bees have gone to rest, the sphinx moth, Celerio liueata, comes 

 out from its day hiding-place. It whirls about with rapid 

 flight, dipping here and there into the flowers for nectar. Then 

 come legions of night-flying moths, along with an entirely new 

 animal populace wjiich have shifted places. The nocturnal 

 forms reign now, while the diurnal are asleep. A peep into the 

 deep woods tells us that the little white-footed, and also the 

 jumping mice, Zappus hudsonius, have just opened their 

 beaded eyes for an all-night play. Few of us appreciate this 



