vI A HUMBLE-BEE HOUSE 99 
populous colonies, it was pretty to see the numerous 
workers busily flying in and out all round the house 
day after day, sometimes till late inthe evening. It 
was interesting to watch them climbing the wire 
tubes, to follow them into their nests, and then to 
see them unburden themselves of their loads of 
pollen and nectar. 
One great advantage in having so many nests 
under one’s eye at the same time was that there 
was always something interesting going on in some 
of them. In one the queen might be giving the 
finishing touches to a cell in which she was about 
to lay a batch of eggs; in another the queen might 
be repulsing the attacks of the workers on her new- 
laid eggs; and ina third a worker might be seen 
injecting food into a wax-covered cluster of larve, 
or helping a baby brother or sister to creep out of 
its cocoon. 
A very good time to watch the bees in their nests 
was at night, for while they were liable sometimes 
to be disconcerted by daylight, they completely 
ignored the light of a candle, provided they were 
not disturbed. At night, too, the full populations 
gave the colonies a very gay and animated appear- 
ance. It was a pleasant relaxation after the day’s 
work to sit on a chair inside the house and study 
the various proceedings of the bees; and the still- 
ness of night was conducive to close observation. 
Except when I was making observations in the 
day-time I kept the window covered with a thick 
black blind. Without this the workers would have 
