CARDER BEES. 485 



familiar group of insects called Humble-bees. Among these, as 

 among Humble-bees in general, there is a great variety of color, 

 so that the same species has been called by different names, even 

 by skilled entomologists. For example, in Kirby's admirable 

 monograph of British Bees, no less than seven varieties of the 

 commonest species of Carder Bee (Bombus muscorum) are given as 

 separate species. 



That such mistakes should be made is no matter of surprise 

 when we take into consideration the capriciousness with which 

 the colors of this species are distributed among its members. 

 Among the queen Bees, the abdomen is sometimes marked with 

 rings of yellow, black, and red, and is sometimes red at the base 

 and tip and black in the middle. The worker has usually a yel- 

 lowish abdomen, with one or two blackish bands, but in some 

 cases the whole abdomen is black, except a small patch on the 

 base and another at the tip. The male Bee has generally the ab- 

 domen colored like the first-mentioned example of the worker, 

 but sometimes it is wholly black, and in many cases it is black ex- 

 cept the tip, which is dun. Indeed, these insects are so extremely 

 variable, that the only method of determining their true arrange- 

 ment is by taking a great number of nests, breeding the inmates, 

 and subjecting them not only to careful external examination, 

 but also to dissection of their internal anatomy. 



The specific title " muscorum," i. e., " of the mosses," which is 

 given to this Bee, is due to the material of which the nest is usu- 

 ally made. It was generally thought to be made exclusively of 

 moss, but is, in fact, constructed of various substances, according 

 to the locality. Mr. F. Smith mentions several instances where 

 the Bees had made use of very singular and unexpected materials. 



In one case, Bees were seen flying into a stable through the 

 latticed window, collecting the little hairs that had fallen from the 

 horses during the process of currying, making them up into bun- 

 dles, and flying off with them. On being watched carefully, one 

 of the Bees was seen to alight on some grass, not very far from 

 the stable, and among the grass was found the nest, which was 

 composed entirely of horse-hair. Unfortunately, this remarkable 

 nest was destroyed before it was completed. 



"Another very interesting deviation from the usual economy 

 of the moss -building Bees was observed by Dr. William Bell. 

 During the summer of 1854, a robin built its nest in the porch of 

 his cottage at Putney. Some time after this had been observed, 



