358 THE INSECT WORLD. 



The humble bees are known by their great size, their short, robust 



body, encircled by bands of very bright colours, and by the noisei 



they make in flying. Their hind legs are armed with two spurs. The- 



females and the workers have the same organisation for plundering; 



flowers as the bees have : they have similar trunks, and their legs arei 



fitted with brushes and baskets for gathering 



pollen. The males, like the males of hive 



bees, have no sting. The greater number! 



have their dwelling-places underground ; other^ 



make their nests on the surface of the soil^ 



in the cracks of walls, in heaps of stones,"" 



&c. The former establish themselves in 



cavities situated as far as half a yard under 



ground, and approached by a long narro'w 



Fig. 333--Maie Humble Bee gallery. It is almost always a solitary femalt 



who has been the architect of the nest. Sht 



cleans out the cavitj^ she has chosen, makes it as smooth as possible 



and lines it with leaves and moss, to embellish the subterraneai 



house in which she is to pass nearly all her existence. 



The Moss Humble Bee {Bomhus muscoriun), called also the Cardin, 

 Bee, chooses an excavation of very little depth in which to make it 

 nest, or else itself undertakes the hollowing out of a hole in the ground 

 It covers this with a dome of moss or dry herbs. But it does not fl] 

 when transporting the moss, it drags it along the ground, with its bacl 

 turned towards the nest. Having seized a packet of the moss, it set 

 to work to draw out the bits with its mandibles, and then pushing ther 

 under its body, throws them in the direction of the nest by a sort c 

 kick from its hind legs. Sometimes, towards the end of the seasor 

 many humble bees are to be seen working in line. The first seize 

 the moss, and after having carded it, passes it under its body, an 

 throws it to the second, which throws it on to the third, and so oi 

 up to the nest. When the materials are ready, the insect makes us 

 of them to manufacture a sort of hemispherical lid, or coverim 

 resembling felt, which shuts the nest in, and is lined with wax. ] 

 you lift up this covering, or small dome, which it is not dangerous t 

 do, for humble bees are not very aggressive, you find beneath it 

 nest composed of a coarse comb. 



The cells which compose the nest, and which are to receive tl: 

 larvae of the insect, are of an oval shape, and of a pale yellow or eve 

 of a blackish colour. Fig, 334 represents these cells. The wax < 

 which they are composed has none of the qualities of that of hi^ 

 bees, but is soft, sticky, and brownish. 



