280 HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



the nest. Several bees have been seen to work together 

 in carding moss or passing it towards the nest. If the 

 nest of the moss-carding humble-bee is dug up (which 

 may be done safely, for this bee is very pacific), there will 

 be found a lining of coarse wax no thicker than writing 

 paper, and within this an irregular mass of egg-shaped 

 cells, some open, others closed. They are of different 

 sizes and of different shapes, and rather rudely fitted 

 together. Some contain larvae and pupae in different 

 stages of growth. A few contain honey only, and these 

 are deeper and open at the top. Other cells will perhaps 

 contain pollen saturated with honey, and lumps of the 

 same substance often lie about the cells in a disorderly 

 way. Schoolboys are often clever at digging out the 

 nests of this and other humble-bees, and the taste of the 

 wild honey, mixed perhaps with a good deal of earth, 

 is to many of us a familiar recollection of our boyhood. 



The nests of Bombus terrestris, one of the commonest 

 of the burrowing humble-bees, are lodged in underground 

 cavities. It is believed that the deserted burrows of small 

 quadrupeds, such as voles, are taken advantage of, to 

 save labour in excavation, but the humble-bees may often 

 be seen working at their own holes, or shaping and trimming 

 holes which they found ready-made. The red-hipped 

 humble-bee (B. lapidarius) makes choice of a cavity in a 

 loose heap of broken stone, or in a bank. The plan of 

 construction adopted by Bombus terrestris is much like 

 that of the moss-carding bee. The cavity, or some part 

 of it, is lined by a thin layer of wax, which encloses the 

 cells. These may be few, especially in early summer ; 

 when the nest is most populous a hundred or more may 

 be counted. The early cells, made by the solitary queen, 

 are comparatively rude, and consist of lumps of pollen, 

 coated with wax, and enclosing many eggs or larvae. The 

 workers, when they appear, construct cup-shaped cells, 

 as big as peas, in each of which the queen lays several 

 eggs. Then the cell is stored with food (pollen moistened 



