WILD BEES 49 



afterwards detected them or that they were hatched 

 out and the strange surroundings and low company 

 proved too much for the refined tastes of the hive 

 grubs, they never came to anything. 



The wax which the humble bees use to stick their 

 cocoons together, to plaster the inside of their nests, 

 and sometimes to form rough cells to hold honey, 

 is very dark, almost black when compared with 

 the beautiful white material secreted by the hive 

 bees. I think they mix earth with it, for I soon 

 found that my colonies did not flourish so well 

 unless I provided a supply of earth kept constantly 

 moist within reach of the bees, and in this they 

 were constantly burrowing. 



The humble bees never swarm ; there is nothing 

 amongst them analogous to what happens when 

 a colony of hive bees with the queen at their head 

 issues forth from the parent stock to found a new 

 community. About the middle of July a colony 

 is at its best. Up to this time nothing but workers 

 have been produced in the nest, and the bees will 

 have garnered a supply of honey and pollen which, 

 in the case of the underground species, where the 

 colonies are larger, will have assumed considerable 

 dimensions. This is all, however, but a means to a 

 great end, none of the present occupants of the nest 

 having the slightest interest in its prosperity. They 

 have borne the heat and burthen of the day only 

 that others may reap the fruits of their labours. 

 About the beginning of July a change comes over 

 the queen. Hitherto she has produced only neuter 

 worker bees or imperfect females, but now, whether 

 by instinct or necessity is not yet clear, she com- 

 mences to lay eggs which produce only males and 



