166 THE HUMBLE-BEE vill 
land. In the south of England the queens appear 
in March and April, and they commence nesting 
earlier than those of any other species; the males are 
plentiful in June, and the colonies break up in July. 
Occasionally, however, specimens may be seen in 
August and September. During the first week in 
September 1911, some fvatorum workers were busy 
on the flowers of scarlet runner beans in a garden at 
Ripple when the workers of all the other species 
were lethargic and their colonies on the eve of 
dissolution. 
This species is very unconventional in the choice 
of its abode. Sometimes a bird’s nest is utilised, it 
may be in an ivy-clad tree at some height from the 
ground: sometimes its dwelling is at a short distance 
under the ground, and here a decaying tree-root is a 
favourite place. Often the nest is situated on the 
surface like that of the carder-bees, but it is generally 
in a wood or under a bush or tree. 
The colonies are not so large as those of ¢evres- 
trts and lapedarius, and the workers are very meek 
when the nest is disturbed. The wax is dark brown. 
The pollen is stored in waxen cells built singly on 
eminences; these cells are smaller, and of a more 
regular shape than the pollen cells of ¢evvestrcs. 
The queens are very fond of the flowers of Rzdes 
sanguineum, and the workers and males of raspberry, 
blackberry, Cotoneaster, and the woody nightshade 
(Solanum dulcamara). 
