i4o THE HUMBLE-BEE 



VII 



way. 1 But the case of the humble-bee is somewhat 

 different, for although it is usual for the queen to 

 fly away from the nest to get fertilised, copulation 

 will, under certain conditions, take place in the 

 nest. Indeed, the difficulty with humble-bees is 

 not so much in getting them to pair as in hiber- 

 nating them. But, from experiments that I have 

 made with B. lapidarius I feel convinced that both 

 pairing and hibernation can be accomplished under 

 human control. 



On September 5, 19 10, I placed six queens and 

 twelve males from my lapidarius nests in a large 

 box covered with wire-cloth, having four inches of 

 loose earth in the bottom. I gave them an artificial 

 flower consisting of a disc of red cloth tacked to the 

 top of a stick and surmounted with three beeswax 

 cups fastened to the cloth with melted beeswax. 

 These cups I filled night and morning with diluted 

 honey through the wire-cloth by means of my bulb 

 syringe, and the bees soon learnt to come to them. 

 On September 8 and 9 there was much copulating. 

 On the 9th, two holes in the earth, evidently where 

 queens had attempted to burrow, were observed. 

 On the 10th two more holes were made in the 

 earth. But none of the queens buried themselves, 

 and as they continued in a very active and restless 

 state I let them all fly three days later. 



On August 16, 191 1, the attempts were renewed, 

 and I confined ten queens in one very large box, 



1 Except by colour selection. See my papers on this subject in the British 

 Bee Journal, December 1909. 



