278 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. X, 



dying within a short time. During the spring of 1916, however, 

 I managed to transfer successfully young colonies of B. penn- 

 sylvanicus DeGeer from their original quarters to observation 

 boxes. 



Attracting Queens to Artificial Nests. 



Mr. F. W. L. Sladen found that by burying various types of 

 domiciles in the ground in spring, he could attract Bombus 

 queens and get them to nest. This enabled Sladen to get the 

 colony at its very inception, and then by carefully removing the 

 nest to an especially constructed bumblebee-house, the life- 

 history could be successfully studied. 



In the spring of 1915, I tried Sladen's method, using a 

 domicile of my own design, and had the satisfaction of finding 

 that one of my domiciles had been selected by a queen of B. 

 peyinsylvanicus. This queen, however, deserted the domicile 

 because of excessive moisture. In April, 1916, I tried the exper- 

 iment again, using a slightly different type of domicile, and was 

 more successful than before. 



In one domicile, which I had placed in a clay embankment, 

 beside a railway track, and near open woods, a queen of Bomhus 

 aiiricomtis Robt. started her nest. This domicile was placed in 

 the ground on April 15, 1916, and was observed to be occupied 

 on June 24, 1916. On the last-mentioned date, the nest was 

 removed to an especially constructed observation box for 

 bumblebee nests. This nest contained, when first found, the 

 following: nine eggs, three large larvas, five pupae in various 

 phases of development, one medium-sized worker, and the 

 mother queen. Judging from the silvery, moist, and matted 

 appearance of the worker, the worker had only recently emerged. 

 In addition the nest contained one empty cocoon in the center 

 of the group of cells, and a wax-pollen honey-pot. This honey- 

 pot was separate from the remainder of the comb and was near 

 the entrance of the nest. The queen, at this period in the 

 history of the colony, still retained her glossy, slick, well-kept 

 appearance of youth. 



Egg-Laying Habits of B. auricomus. 



One of the striking habits of B. auricomus, noticeable at the 

 very outset of study, was that each egg was deposited in a sep- 

 arate egg cell. Such a characteristic has, to my knowledge, not 



