232 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Berks, — I think. What I want to know is this, — Was it a 

 hornet or a wasp ? I ask this because I never yet saw a 

 hornet's nest in the ground, and never heard of an authentic 

 instance of one being found in that situation. But then, on 

 the other hand, I have never resided anywhere where hornets 

 may be said to be very common ; still I have known of some 

 dozen nests within a radius of two miles, but none of them were 

 in or very near the ground, but in roofs of cottages, outhouses, 

 and in hollow trees ; and these are decidedly the favourite 

 resorts. Perhaps, however, Mr. F. Smith, or some other 

 Hymenopterist, will kindly say if I am wrong. Anyone would 

 think that even a child, who had once had a hornet shown 

 him, could never again confound it with a wasp, or vice versa ; 

 but you would be surprised at the ignorance, in this matter, 

 of many well-informed persons, who certainly ought to know 

 a wasp from a hornet, there being quite as much difference in 

 size as between a hive-bee and a humble-bee (Borabus 

 terrestris). Some years ago my friend the late Mr. S. 

 Stone, wrote to me to find out some hornets'-nests, and I 

 made several inquiries for him in the neighbourhood. One 

 intelligent (?) keeper said that he did not tlien know of a 

 hornet's-nest, but he had seen dozens of them in previous 

 years; and he perfectly remembered one very strong colony, 

 that attacked everyone who passed near the nest, which, he 

 said, was suspended from the under side of a fir-hongh. 

 This statement at once floored all my previous faith in his 

 tales of hornets, their nests and stings ; and he likewise told 

 me that on another occasion one crawled into his boot and 

 stung his foot. That the hornet could raise a colony from a 

 nest suspended in the open air is a simple impossibility; the 

 first rough wind would blow its frail, but beautiful nest, 

 constructed of rotten wood, to atoms. Even when taken for 

 the cabinet it requires most careful handling, or it will 

 crumble to pieces in the hand with only a very slight 

 pressure. The sting of a bee or wasp has not the slightest 

 effect on me, and yet I have a dread of being stung; but my 

 youngest brother — who is very fond of bees, and can do 

 almost anything with them — suffers severely if one stings 

 him, causing him to turn purple all over, and with a dangerous 

 swelling of the tongue ; and yet the sting of a wasp has no ill 

 effect upon him whatever. — Henry Reeks; Thruxlon, Sep- 

 tember 7, 1874. 



