22 BEES OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



of all other solitary bees, except of those belonging to the genus 

 Sphecodes, that I am surprised it had escaped the researches of 

 my predecessors who, like myself, " have loved to hear the wild 

 bee's hum." It will be observed that the females of Halictus 

 and Sphecodes make their appearance in June, and are to be 

 found from that time until late in the autumn ; but no males of 

 these genera will be observed until long after the appearance of 

 the females; my observations on a colony of H.morio will serve 

 as the history of the whole genus, making allowance for the dif- 

 ferent periods of their appearance. " Early in April the females 

 appeared, and continued in numbers up to the end of June ; not 

 a single male was to be found at any time : during the month of 

 July scarcely an individual could be found, a solitary female now 

 and then might be seen, but the spring bees had almost disap- 

 peared ; about the middle of August the males began to come 

 forth, and by the end of the month abounded ; the females 

 succeeded the males in their appearance about ten or twelve 

 days : these industrious creatures immediately began the tasks 

 assigned to them, burrowing and forming their nests ; one of 

 their little tunnels had usually others running into it, so that 

 a single common entrance served as a passage to several cells, 

 in each of which a little ball of pollen was formed and a single 

 egg deposited thereon; the Iarva3 were usually ten or twelve 

 days consuming it, by which time they were fully fed ; in this 

 state they lie until they changed to the pupa3 state, when they 

 very shortly became matured." I have reared individuals of 

 H. rubicundus from the egg to the perfect insect ; on the 15th 

 of July I procured cells containing the pollen balls with an egg 

 on each ; in twelve days the larvae were full fed ; the change to 

 the pupa state took place about the 25th of August, and 

 during the first week of September the perfect state was ac- 

 quired. The history of Halictus, therefore, is as follows : the 

 males and females appear in the autumn; the latter being im- 

 pregnated pass the winter in the perfect state, appearing during 

 the following season to perform their economy, as detailed above 

 in the case of H. mono. This is the result of my present obser- 

 vations, and I believe it to be the true history of Halictus as 

 well as of Sphecodes. Humble Bees and Wasps pass the winter 

 months in a torpid state, having been impregnated during the 

 previous autumn, but amongst solitary bees I know no other 

 genera besides Halictus and Sphecodes which resemble them in 

 this respect. 



