VII AP PRACTING QUEENS 123 
week or two the nest subsides and adheres more or 
less to the ground: when it is put back carelessly 
into the cavity there may be a space left under it, 
into which the queen on her return is very likely to 
run. Here she may remain searching for her brood 
and fail to find it, though it be only just above her. 
Inability to find her brood soon after she enters the 
nest fills a queen with excitement and fear, and 
leads to desertion. 
However much | might alter a nest or interfere 
with the brood in the queen’s absence, she seemed 
never to notice it on her return nor to recognise the 
smell of human hands. In two nests of /apzdarzus, 
I opened the first cell of eggs to see how it was 
constructed, but the queens on returning home 
repaired the damage, and both nests developed into 
colonies. 
The weather was favourable almost every day up 
to June 24, but from that date until the end of July 
it was exceptionally cold and cloudy for the time of 
year, favourable days being scarce and many days so 
stormy that very little food could be gathered. At 
the time the bad weather commenced most of the 
queens were getting past outdoor work, and the 
labour of providing food devolved upon the workers, 
which in nearly all the nests proved unable to supply 
the daily wants, so that I had to feed the little 
colonies regularly to save them from perishing. 
Occasional periods of semi-starvation, lasting for 
a day or two, do no harm to a colony of humble- 
bees ; the bees simply become drowsy, remaining in 
