ATTRACTING OUEENS 12* 



week or two the nest subsides and adheres more or 

 less to the ground : when it is put back carelessly 

 into the cavity there may be a space left under it, 

 into which the queen on her return is very likely to 

 run. Here she may remain searching for her brood 

 and fail to find it, though it be only just above her. 

 Inability to find her brood soon after she enters the 

 nest fills a queen with excitement and fear, and 

 leads to desertion. 



However much I mi^ht alter a nest or interfere 

 with the brood in the queen's absence, she seemed 

 never to notice it on her return nor to recognise the 

 smell of human hands. In two nests of lapidarius, 

 I opened the first cell of eggs to see how it was 

 constructed, but the queens on returning home 

 repaired the damage, and both nests developed into 

 colonies. 



The weather was favourable almost every day up 

 to June 24, but from that date until the end of July 

 it was exceptionally cold and cloudy for the time of 

 year, favourable days being scarce and many days so 

 stormy that very little food could be gathered. At 

 the time the bad weather commenced most of the 

 queens were getting past outdoor work, and the 

 labour of providing food devolved upon the workers, 

 which in nearly all the nests proved unable to supply 

 the daily wants, so that I had to feed the little 

 colonies regularly to save them from perishing. 



Occasional periods of semi-starvation, lasting for 

 a day or two, do no harm to a colony of humble- 

 bees ; the bees simply become drowsy, remaining in 



