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CHAPTEE IV. 



CARDER-BEES ; HUMBLE-BEES ; SOCIAL-WASRS. 



The bees and wasps, whose ingenious architecture we 

 have already examined, are solitary in their labours. Those 

 we are about to describe live in society. The perfection of 

 the social state among this class of insects is ceitainly that 

 of the hive-bees. They are the inhabitants of a large city, 

 where the arts are carried to a higher excellence than in 

 small districts enjoying little communication of intelligence. 

 But the bees of the villages, if we may follow up the 

 parallel are not without their interest. Such are those 

 which are called carder-bees and humble-bees. 



Carder-Bees. 



The nests of the bees which Eeaumur denominates carders 

 {Bomhus muscorum, Latr.) are b}^ no means uncommon, 

 and are well worth the study of the naturalist. During 

 the hay harvest, they are frequently met with by mowers 

 in the open fields and meadows ; but they may sometimes 

 be discovered in hedge-banks, the borders of copses or 

 among moss-grown stones. The description of the mode of 

 building adopted by this bee has been copied by most of 

 our writers on insects from Eeaumur ; though he is not 

 a little severe on those who write without having ever had 

 a single nest in their possession, ^\e have been able to 

 avoid such a reproach ; for we have now before us a very 

 complete nest of carder-bees, which differs from those 

 described by Eeanmur, in being made not of moss, but 

 withered grass. With this exception, we find that his 

 account agrees accurately with our own observations. 

 (J. R.) 



The carder-bees select for their nests a shallow excava- 

 tion about half a foot in diameter ; but when they cannot 



