2oo THE HUMBLE-BEE 



VIII 



I have noticed this species to be commonest in damp 

 cold seasons. 



In Co. Armagh the Rev. W. F. Johnson found 

 the nests in deep moss. 



B. muscorum, variety smithianus, White. 



This is a variety found in the Shetland Islands. It 

 is larger than the mainland form : length of the queen 

 19-20 mm., expanse 34-36 mm., length of the male 15- 

 16 mm. The queen and worker have the head (except a 

 few hairs on top), the underside of the thorax, the under- 

 side of the abdomen, and the legs clothed with black instead 

 of pale hairs ; also the orange-brown of the upper side of 

 the thorax is of a somewhat richer tint than in the main- 

 land variety, and it is not bordered with pale hairs ; and 

 the abdomen is more distinctly lemon-yellow. The male is 

 coloured like the queen, except that he generally has a tuft 

 of lemon-yellow on the lower part of the face, some yellow 

 on the top of the head, and the underside of the abdomen 

 partly pale. 



The coat is longer in this variety than in the mainland 

 form. 



Specimens with a black underside have also been taken 

 in Lewis in the Hebrides. The variety occurs, too, in 

 Norway. But specimens from Stromness, Orkney, show 

 only traces of black on the face, underside, and legs, 

 although the coat is long. 



In the Saunders' Collection at the British Museum 

 there is a specimen from St. Mary's, Scilly, of the 

 South of England variety, having the underside 

 black, and the legs partly so. 



The Rev. F. D. Morice found smithianus nesting 

 in stone walls in Shetland. 



