90 



to visit our gay parterres, it will be seen busy among the flowers above mentioned. 

 In the month of August, the queens of this species are seen booming along, scarcely 

 able to fly, probably full of eggs, and quite different from the active, nimble worker. 

 The male bees may be seen late in November, dormant on the thistle, with their hairy 

 bodies and long antennae ; after this time they all perish. There is a variety of this 

 species all black, very like them, but not so common ; the males have the same habits, 

 leaving the nest once, and not returning. The Apis hortorum may be found in great 

 numbers in woodland countries, which they certainly prefer : but for the wild wood- 

 mouse these bees would be ten times more numerous. 



" I have found the two last-named species, Apis terrestris and A hortorum, more 

 infested with lice than any others ; the old queen mother is often covered with them, 

 and so close do they keep, that it is a work of time aud difficulty, as well as requiring 

 patience, to rid them of these troublesome vermin. Sometimes their poor bodies are 

 nearly eaten in two by these lice, and I have often found them in consequence weak, 

 unable to fly, and in a dying state. 



"The Apis hortorum is full fourteen days or a month later in making its appearance 

 in the spring than its congener, the Apis terrestris ; another instance of the wisdom of 

 Providence, as no flowers fit for its use are in blossom at an earlier period. Notwith- 

 standing this, and the paucity of numbers, the males are a month earlier in being 

 hatched and leaving than Apis terrestris. 



"The two following species which I am going to describe are also later in awaking 

 from their slumbers from the same cause. 



" There are several varieties of the next species, called the orange-tailed bee. 



"3. Apis lapidaria, red or orange-tailed. This is another beautiful species of wild 

 bee, and very common in England. It forms its nests sometimes in old walls, heaps of 

 stones, &c, but I have found the greatest number in heaps of moss, or in the earth, 

 generally a couple of inches only from the surface. The female or queen bee is large, 

 very black and hairy, with the three last segments of the abdomen red or deep orange. 

 The male is smaller, and quite differently marked, being nearly all yellow, except the 

 abdomen, which is red. The worker is a smaller bee, and marked the same as the 

 queen. This is a very common bee in some parts of England and on the Continent, 

 but I never saw one of this species in any part of Scotland, though there is a variety of it 

 differently marked, with nearly the same habits in every respect, most frequently found 

 there in old walls; they go by a very vulgar name among the lower orders in the North. 



" Of these (red-tailed) I have taken many nests. This is easily done, as they are 

 mostly on or near the surface of the ground, but out of reach of the tread of cattle. 

 My method is to lay the nest bare in the course of the day ; aud after sunset, when 

 they are all quiet, to go with a small box, and lift the whole of the nest, combs, bees, 

 &c, all at once, and cover them up for the night. It will amply repay any one cu- 

 rious in these trifles, to watch the exit of the workers in the morning, when the aper- 

 ture is opened, and they find themselves in a new situation. The care with which 

 they survey the entrance one by one, the slow and cautious manner in which they take 

 their first few flights, is most admirable. Surely no one who observes this, can for a 

 moment suppose that the bee finds its way to its hive or nest mechanically, without 

 full observation. 



" The males of the Apis lapidaria have precisely the same habits as the two last- 

 described species; they leave the nest a few days after they are hatched, guided much 



