156 RHYTHM 



away in some cranny or among some debris. Here she is 

 diligently sought for by the males, who pause at every likely 

 spot and emit a very pleasing scent, possibly to attract the 

 queens. Sometimes they try to intercept their brides as they 

 leave the nest, but in any case the queen, once fertilized, 

 abandons her home, which soon falls into decay, and seeks for 

 winter quarters. Before leaving the nest she has filled up her 

 crop with honey, and this must suffice her for food during 

 the next eight or nine months, when she is en retraite. The 

 queens of some species, Boinhus terrestris, like to winter in 

 burrows under trees, those of others, B. lapidarius, prefer 

 crevices high up in banks. But whatever habitat is chosen, 

 damp must be avoided and the aspect must be northerly. 

 This latter is also true for hibernating wasps, and the ex- 

 planation is not far to seek. These burrowing females are 

 roused to activity by the warm spring sunshine ; should their 

 winter home face south, a single exceptionally warm winter's 

 day might awake them. They would emerge to find the world 

 unready for them and perish without founding a colony. 

 Getting up too early with them is as fatal as not getting up 

 at all. The retreat of the queen, at any rate in the species 

 B. lapidarius, is often revealed by little heaps of sand or 

 earth, excavated as she tunnels the bank to a depth of two 

 or three inches. At the end of the tunnel she carves out a 

 spherical cell an inch or more in diameter. At first she sleeps 

 but lightly, and if disturbed by any cause will emerge from 

 her "cell" and fly away to build another; but as winter 

 approaches and the days become cold, she sinks into a deep 

 lethargy, simulating death. This torpor lasts eight or nine 

 months. Those species who go to bed early begin to stir as 

 early as March; those that retire later may not resume their 

 activities until May or even June. 



As the spring advances the queens re-appear, and "may 

 be seen busily rifling the peach blossom, willow catkins and 

 purple dead-nettle." At first they nightly retire to their 

 hiding-places, but soon, as the days lengthen, the desire for 

 starting the colony becomes irresistible and a home is sought 

 out, usually one already made and abandoned by some field 

 mouse or other small, burrowing mammal. 



