THE HONEY-BEE. 239 



neighbours, while the wooden-box, No. 8, had been 

 olundered. 



The numbers awanting in the Table belonged to 

 hives from which he had taken the honey, or which 

 he had fed, and were not, therefore, legitimate sub- 

 jects of experiment. 



HUMBLE-BEES. 



WE have now to notice the nature and habits of 

 another tribe of the social Apidae, familiarly known 

 by the name of Humble-Bees ; but so large a space 

 has been already devoted to a more valuable species, 

 that our descriptions must be comparatively brief. 

 H amble-Bees, as far as we know, have never been do- 

 mesticated, or made directly subservient to the inter- 

 ests of mankind ; although it is not improbable that 

 means might be found of turning their labours to 

 account, did not the possession of a more useful 

 species remove all inducement to make the attempt. 

 They constitute, however, a very interesting portion 

 of our insect population for a variety of reasons. 

 Their economy, although greatly inferior in interest 

 to that of the hive bee, is still extremely curious ; 

 their comparatively large size, and gay colours, ren- 

 der them conspicuous objects in our fields and gar- 

 dens ; the untiring diligence with which they seek 

 their food among the blossoms "so busy and so 



