INTRODUCTION 5 



parallel. They may perhaps with their music 

 often convey to the broken-hearted and lonely exile 

 in Siberia the momentarily cheering reminiscence 

 of joyful youth, and by this bright and brief in- 

 terruption break the monotonous and painful dul- 



ness of his existence, recalling the happier days of 



" i 

 yore. 



In the Himalayas they are to be met with at all 

 altitudes from 2,000 to over 12,000 feet. But in the 

 plains of India there are none, nor do they exist in 

 Africa, except along the north coast, and Australia 

 and New Zealand have no native species. Where 

 they occur in the tropics they are generally confined 

 to the mountains, although Brazil has a few indolent- 

 looking species. 



It is safe to say that the total number of species, 

 i.e. of forms that do not interbreed, exceeds a 

 hundred, and that the lesser varieties amount to 

 more than a thousand. 



It is charming to watch a populous colony of 

 humble-bees busy on its comb, each individual 

 wearing the beautiful livery of its particular species. 

 Each species has its own peculiarities of habit and 

 disposition, so that even in the British fauna there 

 are plenty of different natures to study. 



Investigating the habits of humble-bees, and 

 experimenting in different ways with them, has been 

 a source of great pleasure to me since boyhood. 

 Colonies have been kept under observation in arti- 

 ficial domiciles ; the ins and outs of their lives have 



1 British Bees, by W. E. Shuckard, 1868, page 7S. 



