154 WILD LIFE AT HOME. 



Nothing seems to come amiss to them in the eating 

 line. I had a hive of honey bees moved a few 

 months ago, and a number of robbers of the same 

 species, scenting the exposed honey, made an on- 

 slaught, and there was a great battle, resulting in a 

 heap of slain invaders being thrown outside. Several 

 wasps discovered the bodies of the dead marauders, 

 and, cutting them in two at the narrow part joining 

 the abdomen to the thorax, ate the contents of the 

 former. One morning I saw a dead young bee 

 thrown out of the hive. It had not lain more than 

 a minute or two before a wasp came along and 

 seized it. He tried to fly aAvay with it, but finding 

 the piece of carrion too heavy to lift, he at once 

 set to work, and, severing the thorax and head 

 from the abdomen, flew away with the latter. 



They are also cannibals. One day I watched 

 one cut the head clean off an injured comrade and 

 fly away with it. 



Wasps are also great drunkards, and when fallen 

 fruit begins to rot and ferment they are at the very 

 height of their enjoyment. I have seen them suck 

 up the juice from a hole in the side of a rotting 

 pear until they fell over helpless in the grass. It 

 it said on good authority that they lie in this state 

 until they become sober, and then go straight back 

 again to another carouse. 



They are gifted with great vitality. I recently 

 killed an adder and left him for an hour or two 

 before I examined the contents of his stomach. When 



