WAX- WORKERS 151 



of propolis. This is the gummy secretion gathered 

 from the leaf-buds of poplars, horse-chestnut, pines, 

 and the stems of other plants. They take it home 

 as they do pollen, in the baskets on their hind legs ; 

 but they cannot discharge their loads of propolis 

 as they do their pollen : it is so sticky that it has 

 to be pulled off by other workers. 



Other wax workers will be found in the Humble 

 or Bumble Bees (Bombus), which are also social, 

 the community again consisting of workers or 

 incomplete females, drones, and one or more 

 perfect females. As compared with the Honey 

 Bee the Humble Bee is a burly giant, whose re- 

 appearance in spring is always welcomed as she goes 

 about the earliest blossoms and lets the world 

 know by her cheerful humming that she is return- 

 ing to activity. These early bees are always females 

 that have lain in a torpid state through the winter 

 in some cosy nook, and have temporarily emerged 

 for the refreshment that sallow catkins afford. 



But the Humble Bee community is a very small 

 affair in comparison with that of the Honey Bee. 

 As you stand under a sallow-tree in March and 

 listen to the organ-like volume of music that 

 emanates from the hundreds of Humble Bees that 

 are gathering nectar from the flowers — the so-called 

 " palm "• — -you may be excused for regarding them 

 as a " swarm " akin to the swarms of Honey Bees. 

 As a matter of fact, every individual of that host 

 is an independent female, each the possible founder 

 of a new and separate colony. When they have 



