304 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



and some mature insects as well. The death of 

 so many at the end of the summer rather implies 

 senility and the exhaustion of function than simple 

 inability to resist cold. Insects which have not 

 completed their functions often experience sharper 

 night colds in the summer than suffice to kill 

 them in the autumn, but, though they become torpid 

 under the experience, they wake up with renewed 

 warmth, none the worse of the experience. 



The bee referred to above was a queen of one 

 of the commonest of the species of humble-bees 

 Bom bus terrestris familiar in its black livery, with 

 tawny, yellow bands on the thorax and abdomen, 

 and a tawny, or sometimes dull, white tail. It 

 has been noted that when it hibernates it generally 

 selects for its burrow the northern aspect of a 

 bank the place on which the winter sun never 

 shines except in an oblique and ineffectual way. 

 The burrow is carried only about a couple of inches 

 deep, and the cell is just large enough to hold 

 the bee. Frequently in winter the earth is frozen 

 solid to a much greater depth than this, and on 

 a spot with a northern aspect it may remain frozen 

 for a long time. From the frequency of the choice 

 of such a site by the bee, it is inferred that cold 

 troubles it not at all in its hibernating state, and 

 that damp is the thing it has chiefly to guard 

 against. On the warm side of the bank, subject 

 to frequent freezings and thawings, the insect would 

 run much more danger of dampness than on the 

 northern side. 



The queens thus stowed away will be asleep till 

 the sun of May brings them to life again. Their 



