280 THE ANTHOPHILA. 



burimm^ but I liave also seen them make great use of 

 the leaves of the common acacia, although both roses 

 and labm-nums stood in the same garden. The pieces of 

 leaf when cut out are rolled up and carried off between 

 the legs of the Bee to the nest, in the interior of 

 which they are neatly arranged, so as to form a series 

 of about half-a-dozen cells, resembling small thimbles 

 fitted into each other, with the concavity turned to- 

 wards the mouth of the nest. Each of these cells 

 receives an eg^, and a supply of honey and pollen, 

 which is usually collected from the flowers of thistles. 



Amongst the social Bees, the common Humble- 

 Bees [Bombi) must be familiar to every one. The 

 most careless of us must have frequently had his 

 attention attracted by the loud booming hum of these 

 Bees in their busy flight about the flowers of our 

 hedge-rows and gardens, as they carefully search 

 every blossom, rifle them of their sweet stores, and 

 bear these home in triumph to their nests. 



The latter are placed by some species (such as the 

 common Bombus terrestris, with its black body and 

 yellow bands, and the red-tailed B. lapidarius) at a 

 considerable depth in the ground, whilst others {B. 

 muscorum, &c.) construct their dwellings on the surface, 

 covering them with a dome of moss. Their oeconomy 

 in all cases is nearly identical, and may be briefly 

 described as follows : — 



As in the Social Wasps, the whole colony, with the 

 exception of a few young fertile females, perishes 

 at the approach of winter, and the surviving females 

 conceal themselves in sheltered situations, such as 

 the decayed trunks of trees, under clods of earth in 

 dry banks, &c., where they pass the winter in a state 

 of torpidity. With the first genial days of spring, 



I 



