RHYTHM OF BEES 155 



• 

 and southerly geographical limits. On the other hand, wasps 

 and bees in temperate climates show a marked i)f'ri()dicity. 

 Whereas in the tropics the bees' nest or the wasps' nest is in 

 action throughout the twelve months, m a temperate climate 

 these activities are reduced to a minimum during the winter. 

 The honey-bee is alone amongst bees in maintaining its 

 colony throughout the winter; but the activity of the hive 

 is greatly reduced. The workers stop at home ; they cease to 

 collect honey and pollen, and live on what they have ah-eady 

 stored up. The temperature of the hive, always well above 

 that of the surrounding atmosphere in summer, drops, but 

 is still higher than that of the outside air. The drones are 

 murdered and cast out of the skip ; but although the activity 



1 



Fig. 53. The Wood-ant, Formica rufa. 1. Female. 2. Male. 3. Neuter. 



of the workers is reduced, they do not cease to work, for, 

 like Martha, they are *' cumbered about with much serving." 



This marked seasonal periodicity is even more pronounced 

 in the case of the bumble-bee and the wasp, for with these the 

 whole colony dies out at the commencement of the winter 

 with the exception of the queen. A bumble-bee's nest is in 

 being only for about three or at the most four months of the 

 year; for the remaining nine or eight months the whole 

 potentiality of the next summer's brood is hidden away in 

 the body of a fertilized queen. 



If we try to trace the history of the bumble-bee's nest we 

 may begin with the queen in the late summer. The active 

 season of such a nest is shorter than that of the Apis or 

 Vespa, the closed time longer. The final activity of the 

 corporate life is the rearing of queens in the later part of 

 July or in August. Once grown up, the queen as a rule soon 

 leaves the nest, but she is "a shy bird" and hides Jurself 



