84 THE HUMBLE-BEE v 
old woods, especially those containing decaying 
tree stumps. Other good places are the edges of 
meadows, paddocks, rickyards, rough waste ground, 
and ferneries consisting of grubbed-up tree-roots. 
To discover the nests it is best to walk slowly 
along the foot of the bank or the outside of the 
wood, stopping at times, and all the while keeping 
one’s eyes resting on a spot about twenty yards 
ahead on the bank or in the wood, ready to follow 
with the eye, if not on foot, every humble-bee that 
is seen or heard. Here the advantage of a calm 
day is realised, for the waving of the grass in the 
wind and the rustling of the foliage make it very 
difficult to see or hear any bee that is not very 
close, and impossible to keep it within sight longer 
than a moment, particularly as the wind may cause 
its flight to be somewhat erratic. If we are in East 
Kent, though other parts of the country can hardly 
differ much in this respect, we shall be rewarded 
within a few minutes by the sight of a humble-bee 
either leaving or entering its nest. The beginner, 
however, is very likely to be puzzled or deceived 
by the sight of a male of B. pratorum or B. hor- 
torum lightly flying along the bank and pausing for 
a moment, without quite settling, at the foot of a 
certain tree, or in a shady recess under a particular 
shrub, followed sooner or later by another (see 
p. 13). But if we see a bee alight and not rise 
again we may be pretty sure we have found a 
nest, especially if its flight is heavy and deliberate. 
Care must be taken not to disarrange the grass 
