52 HVMENOPTERA. 



as many bees as have fallen under my notice during the 

 entire season of 1862. 



Humble Bees. — In the number of the Zoologist for 

 Aus^ust last, Colonel Newman has given a faithful picture 

 of the effect of the season on the family of the Bomhi ; he 

 tells us of the meffectual attempts oi Bomhus subterraneus 

 to establish herself, and lay the foundation of her colony ; 

 the ground, he says, " was so wet, a few inches deep, that 

 no lodsrment was made until the 7th of June, when an 

 inundation of rain washed the poor bee completely out of her 

 nest ;" the unfortunate bee was cared for, was rescued and 

 fed for a day, and then set at liberty to resume her task ; the 

 bee was again observed at her haunts, another attempt was 

 made to establish herself, but torrents of rain again fell, — the 

 poor bee appeared no more. That the majority of Humble 

 Bees shared a similar fate, cannot be doubted by any one 

 who has observed the scarcity of these insects; I have 

 frequently visited localities during the past season where 

 these insects are usually found in great numbers, but iew, if 

 any, were to be found. During an entire month spent in 

 Suffolk, commencing in the middle of August, and ter- 

 minating in the middle of September, a period of time 

 during which the Aculeata are usually abundant, I certainly 

 did not see above fifty insects belonging to this class, although 

 the weather was in every respect suitable for their appearance. 

 Tn the north of England, the Bomhi were not more abundant, 

 and the few individuals which I observed, were poor diminu- 

 tive representatives of their kinds, scarcely more than half 

 the usual size of the species; the latter circumstance is 

 probably attributable to a scanty supply of food in their 

 larval state. Of the moss-building species I have not seen 

 half-a-dozen examples during the season, and Mr. Bold 



