16G TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 



conical uioiindlct thus formed was composed of fine 

 fibres of the excavated rootlets, while the edges of the 

 sod were stripped of the same. Cells, larvsB, drones and 

 queen were quite out of sight, buried and domiciled 

 within the grassy mattress that bunched out above 

 them. Here and there workers would jDush out their 

 black heads from the mound, like boys playing hide-and- 

 seek in a hay-mow, and pull them back again. Others 

 would slowly scramble forth and busy themselves at 

 tucking up the tufts of upholstery, or if my approach 

 had been uugeuLle, would rise like alarmed sentinels 

 and hum around the miniature hay-cock that held the 

 tx'easures of their home. At several places in the mound 

 Uie openings through which these bees came were well 

 nigh formed into regular tubular gates by the compact- 

 ing of the fibre. 



•'Come," said the Doctor, as we sat on the porch 

 after tea, enjoying the soft auluimi evening, "we ought 

 to round out our bee-hunting with the story of how a 

 nest is founded. What say you, Mr. Mayfield ?" 



" I am quite at your service, and the story is not 

 long, though somewhat curious. At the end of f:\H 

 nearly all the humble-bees die. The males invariably 

 perish, l)ut one or two of the iemales or young queens 

 survive, and pass the winter in a state of hibernation. 

 In early spring the queen awakes from her winter's 

 sleep beneath the moss or leaves, or in deserted nests, 

 or sheltered spots, such as hollow trees or hay-stacks. 



" She may then be seen prowling abov'e the ground, 

 settling here and there, and flying off again with gi 



