244 HUMBLE-BEES. 



pale-yellow or luteous ; the posterior tibiae rather 

 smooth above, the lateral hairs cinereous ; abdomen 

 approaching to globose. Slight varieties are formed 

 by the coloured bands being sometimes of a lighter 

 or a darker hue. 



This insect abounds in our fields and gardens, and 

 is almost equally common throughout all Europe. 

 It is distinguished above its congeners for strength 

 and activity. It is one of the earliest insects that 

 appear in the spring, and one of the latest to 

 leave us in autumn. It forms its nest, as is well 

 known, in holes in the ground, sometimes excavated 

 laboriously by its own efforts, sometimes previously 

 formed by other animals and taken possession of by 

 the foundress of the colony. The females of this, as 

 of all the other species, are largest in size, the males 

 next, and the workers smallest. Early in spring, 

 when the willows begin to bloom, the female may be 

 seen traversing the gardens by sun-rise with her 

 usual sonorous booming, and busied in collecting 

 honey and pollen from the catkins. The workers 

 do not appear till a somewhat later period, and the 

 males not till autumn, when the thistles are in blos- 

 som, upon the flowers of which they are found in 

 great numbers, and in still greater, if possible, upon 

 seeding leeks and onions, where, on a single flower, 

 may be seen half a dozen at the same moment. At 

 this early period of the year, the female is a solitary 

 being, and her flights are directed in search of a place 

 suitable for a habitation. The females only, of all 

 the former year's colonv have survived the winter, 



