Vil BOMBUS*TERRES TRIS 159 
matized in Australia-and New Zealand. Over the 
greater part of Europe the tail is white like that of 
lucorum. \n Corsica the yellow bands are absent 
and the tail and legs red in the queen and worker 
(var. vanthopus). Ina variety found in the Canary 
Islands (var. canarzenszs, Pér.) the yellow bands are 
also absent but the tail is white. 
Although the earliest queens are among the first 
humble-bees to appear in the spring, the majority of 
the nests are not started until May. The nest is 
almost always under the ground, a long hole being 
preferred. The cocoons are only loosely connected 
to one another, the clusters being indistinct. Not 
many workers are reared by the queen in the first 
batch, but ultimately the worker population generally 
exceeds two hundred. The workers are most ener- 
getic and particularly industrious in gathering 
pollen: they defend the nest bravely when it is 
disturbed, hovering around it for some time ready 
to sting anything that approaches. The old queen, 
after she has laid many eggs, loses the greater part 
of her hair. The wax is dark brown. 
This species frequents many of the same kinds of 
flowers as B. /apidarius; the workers are also fond 
of the flowers of the blackberry, the numerous 
stamens in which seem to irritate them, for they 
shake their wings and buzz impatiently as they rifle 
each blossom. 
