THE HUMBLE BEE. 



89 



the bag is plunged into a pan of boiling water ; the 

 pure material oozes through the cloth, and swims 

 upon the surface ; it is carefully skimmed off, as 

 long as any continues to rise, and poured into a 

 shallow earthen bowl, which is previously wetted 

 to prevent the wax from adhering to its sides. It 

 must be allowed to cool very gradually, otherwise 

 the cake which it forms will crack. 



An inferior kind of wax is made by those large 

 bees called humble bees, whose gay colours and 

 booming flight make them so well known in our 

 gardens. 



Early in spring, as 

 soon as the catkins of 

 the willows are in flower, 

 a large solitary female 

 may be seen about them 

 collecting honey and pol- 

 len. She is the only sur- 

 vivor of the former year's 

 colony, and is the foundress of a new one. Her 

 first care on awaking from her winter's sleep is to 

 excavate a hollow in the earth for her nest, which 



FEMALE HUMBLE BEE. 



