CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 



PAGE 



SOCIAL BEES AND WASPS . . . 17 



Lazy Bees Members of the Bee Family How the Honey- 

 comb is made Regal Duties Attentive Nurses Rivals 

 The Bees' Legerdemain Collecting Honey Living Venti- 

 lators How Honey is preserved Scavengers and Door- 

 keepersA Thief in the Night A New Community The 

 Home of the Bumble-bee The Trumpeter Cats and Clover 

 The Wasp as Wood-pulp Maker The Wasp's Toilet A 

 House upside down 



CHAPTER II 



SOLITARY BEES AND WASPS . . , . . 31 



A Bed of Roses Living Compasses Taking a Mean Ad- 

 vantageBees as Carpenters Waste not, Want not A Bee 

 Mason Curious Nesting Sites Burrowing Bees A Careful 

 Mother The Solitary Wasp's Larder A Troublesome 

 Burden and how the Wasp overcomes a Difficulty An Insect 

 Surgeon Training for a Combfat How a Mother Wasp 

 preserves its Grub from Danger 



CHAPTER III 



ANTS . . . ; '.,, . * . 42 



In praise of the Ant Stages of Ant Civilisation A Large 

 Family The Queen Ant as an Engineer A Labour-saving 

 Device Regulating the Temperature of a Nest Official 

 Nut-crackers Methodical Nurses The Evening Promenade 

 A Well-timed Flight The Sweet Tooth of the Ant A 

 living Sweetshop Fungus - growing Ants A Careful 

 Gardener Harvesters Ant Gardens Protecting the Home 

 A Biting Stopper Slave Makers Helpless Amazons 



CHAPTER IV 



TERMITES OR WHITE ANTS . ''.* ' . . 55 



Some Misnomers Giant Houses A Lonely Queen Growth 

 extraordinary An Egg-laying Machine A Wise Provision 



9 



