54 THE HUMBLE-BEE M1 
hand, are not nearly so populous, but I have taken 
nests of each of the species containing over 100 
workers. Many colonies, however, fail to grow 
large through parasites, bad weather, and various 
other misfortunes ; thus in some nests of the prolific 
underground species the population never exceeds 
100, and in some nests of the carder-bees it never 
exceeds 50. 
When most of the young queens have emerged 
the number of workers diminishes rapidly, and is 
soon reduced to a few dozen of the youngest and 
strongest. These drop off one by one. Flowers 
grow scarce, the workers become idle and listless, 
and the store of honey that only two or three weeks 
previously filled so many cells is quickly consumed. 
The comb grows mouldy, and the old queen dies. 
And so decay and death overtake the once busy 
community. 
In the case of BL. pratorum, and probably of the 
other species whose colonies end their existence in 
the height of summer, the aged queen often spends 
the evening of her life very pleasantly with her little 
band of worn-out workers. They sit together on 
two or three cells on the top of the ruined edifice, 
and make no attempt to rear any more brood. The 
exhausting work of bearing done, the queen’s body 
shrinks to its original size, and she becomes quite 
active and youthful-looking again. This well-earned 
rest lasts for about a week, and death, when at last 
it comes, brings with it no discomfort. One night, 
a little cooler than usual, finding her food supply 
