BOMB US TERRESTRIS 159 



matized in Australia and New Zealand. Over the 

 greater part of Europe the tail is white like that of 

 lucorum. In Corsica the yellow bands are absent 

 and the tail and legs red in the queen and worker 

 (var. xanthopus). In a variety found in the Canary 

 Islands (var. canariensis, Per.) the yellow bands are 

 also absent but the tail is white. 



Although the earliest queens are among the first 

 humble-bees to appear in the spring, the majority of 

 the nests are not started until May. The nest is 

 almost always under the ground, a long hole being 

 preferred. The cocoons are only loosely connected 

 to one another, the clusters being indistinct. Not 

 many workers are reared by the queen in the first 

 batch, but ultimately the worker population generally 

 exceeds two hundred. The workers are most ener- 

 getic and particularly industrious in gathering 

 pollen : they defend the nest bravely when it is 

 disturbed, hovering around it for some time ready 

 to sting anything that approaches. The old queen, 

 after she has laid many eggs, loses the greater part 

 of her hair. The wax is dark brown. 



This species frequents many of the same kinds of 

 flowers as B. iapidarius ; the workers are also fond 

 of the flowers of the blackberry, the numerous 

 stamens in which seem to irritate them, for they 

 shake their wings and buzz impatiently as they rifle 

 each blossom. 



