INTRODUCTION 



Everybody knows the burly, good-natured bumble- 

 bee. Clothed in her lovely coat of fur, she is the 

 life of the gay garden as well as of the modestly 

 blooming wayside as she eagerly hums from flower 

 to flower, diligently collecting nectar and pollen 

 from the break to the close of day. Her methodical 

 movements indicate the busy life she leads a life 

 as wonderful and interesting in many of its details 

 as that of the honey-bee, about which so much has 

 been written. Her load completed, she speeds 

 away to her home. Here, in midsummer, dwells 

 a populous and thriving colony of humble-bees. 

 The details of the way in which this busy community 

 came into being, what sort of edifice the inhabitants 

 have built, how they carry out their duties, and what 

 eventually will become of them will be explained 

 later : it is enough at present to note that the colony, 

 like a hive of honey-bees, consists chiefly of workers, 

 small modified females, whose function in life is not 

 to give birth but to labour for the establishment, 

 bringing home and depositing in cells load after 



B 



