INTRODUCTION 17 



countries, build combs that are not sus- 

 pended mouth down but are built in con- 

 centric spheres, the position of most of 

 the cells being more like that of the honey- 

 comb than like the ordinary wasp-comb. 

 Some of them store food in their cells, and 

 with some this food is a true honey. 



Bees are probably the latest evolution in 

 the insect world. 



The Order Hymenoptera, on the whole 

 the most advanced of all Orders, is a late 

 development according to the geological 

 records, and in this Order the wasps pre- 

 cede the bees in time, the mar- 

 vellous honey-makers being 

 the last and the highest product 

 of hymenopteran evolution. 



The wasps, in consequence 

 of slight differences in their 

 structure, have been artificially, separated 

 into two families, the true wasps and the 

 digger wasps. 



The true wasps can readily be distin- 



