Bombus oricntalis. 



Api-s fascidt'us. 



Xylocopa Cciffra. 



The right-band insect in the engraving is the CAEPENTEE BEE of Southern Africa, one 

 of those curious insects which construct a series of cells in wood. After completing their 

 burrow, which is open at each end, they close the bottom with a flooring of agglutinated 

 sawdust, formed of the morsels bitten off during the operation of burrowing, lay an egg 

 upon this floor, insert a quantity of " bee-bread," made of the pollen of flowers and their 

 juices, and then cover the whole with a layer of the same substance that was used for the 

 floor. Upon this is laid another egg, another supply of bee-bread is inserted, and a fresh 

 layer of sawdust superimposed. Each layer is therefore the floor of one cell and the 

 ceiling of another, and the insect makes on the average about ten or twelve of 

 these cells. 



AT the left hand of the engraving is shown one of the numerous HUMBLE BEES, a 

 group of insects readily recognised by their thick hairy bodies and general shape. Their 

 nests are placed underground, often in banks, and contain a variable number of cells, 

 sometimes not more than twenty in number, and sometimes exceeding two, or even three, 

 hundred. The cells are loosely connected together, and are of an oval shape, their texture 

 being tougher and more paper-like than those of the hive bee. In these, as in the ordinary 

 bees, there are the three kinds of inhabitants ; but with the Humble Bees, both the females 

 and neuters take part in the labours of the establishment, while the number of perfect 

 females is comparatively large. 



The honey made by these insects is peculiarly sweet and fragrant, but to many persons, 

 myself included, is rather injurious, always causing a severe headache. Some of the 

 Humble Bees (Bombus muscorum} employ moss in the construction of their nests, and 

 pass it, fibre by fibre, through their legs, in a manner that reminds the observer of carding 

 cotton. They are on that account popularly called CAEDEE BEES. Others, again (Bombus 

 lapidarius], prefer to make their nests in heaps of stones, or similar localities, and these 

 are the fiercest of their kind. Generally, the Humble Bees are quiet and inoffensive, even 

 permitting their nest to be laid open and the cells extracted without offering to molest the 

 invader. The ORANGE-TAILED HUMBLE BEE, however, is large and fierce ; and possessing 



