56 THE HUMBLE-BEE i 
is only because she fights with greater energy and 
boldness than her adversary, the combatant that 
shows fear, hesitation, or weakness being almost 
always defeated. Consequently, if the foundress has 
become enfeebled, or has been taken by surprise by 
the interloper, she is very likely to lose her life. The 
contest decided, the victor pays no further attention 
to her vanquished antagonist, and, with an air of 
relief and satisfaction, goes and cherishes the brood 
with the greatest affection. 
In seasons when /apidarius or terrestris queens 
are abundant, several of these duels may be fought 
in a single nest, and in digging up nests in an early 
stage I have often found the dead bodies of the 
queens. ‘They lie under the nest or near it, in the 
cavity or tunnel. I once dug up a nest of ¢errestris 
containing the remains of no less than twenty 
queens: the tunnel was short with a conspicuous 
entrance. On May 27, 1911, I found two dead 
terrestris queens in a nest with a short tunnel, the 
mouth of which was small and completely hidden 
under grass, which shows that the queens often find 
the nests by scent. 
I think that the queens of the carder-bees seldom 
enter one another’s nests and kill one another; 
but that they may do so sometimes was proved by 
my finding a dead derhame//us queen, as well as the 
reigning one, in a derhamellus nest on June 3, 1911, 
this species being particularly plentiful that season. 
It may be asked, What causes the queens to fight ? 
Investigations that I have made point to the con- 
