BEES 297 



It is worth while remembering that if wasps do considerable damage to 

 fruit, they render some service by destroying harmful grubs, larvae, and insects. 



BEES. 



Over 200 species of Bees are found in this country, though most people 

 would divide them into two, Honey Bees and Humble Bees ! There are a large 

 number of Solitary Bees, the life-history of which is very interesting. The 

 genus Colletes resembles the familiar Honey Bee, though the males are smaller 

 than the drones of a hive. These do not live a community life, although they 

 often build their cells side by side, forming a small colony. They may be found 

 in loose soil, or in the soft mortar of walls. I have seen them frequently by the 

 side of graves in a churchyard. Each cell is beautifully lined with a delicate 

 membrane like goldbeaters' skin. Another Solitary bee is Prosopis, to be 

 seen from June to August, which makes its cells in the pith of bramble sticks. 

 This bee when handled gives off a fragrant scent. 



There are more than sixty British species of the genus Andrena, which appear 

 very early in the spring, often on a sunny day in March. They burrow long 

 tunnels in the earth, from which other passages lead to single cells, in which 

 first a mass of pollen is placed and then an egg is laid. The larva when full 

 grown hibernates till the following spring. 



Halictus is another large genus of bees with similar habits, which use a 

 common burrow, like families in a model dwelling, having their own apartments ; 

 while the Nomada, or Wasp Bees, are the most handsome of all our native 

 species. These are known to enter the hives of other bees, and like Prosopis 

 they emit a pleasant odour when handled. 



The Mason Bees (Osmia), of which there are several species, make single 

 cells of a kind of mortar or cement, made from earth mixed with saliva. In 

 each single cell, when completed, a mass of honey and pollen is placed, an egg 

 laid, and the top sealed. When eight or nine such cells have been made, the 

 bee covers them with cement and minute stones. 



There are also Wood-boring Bees (for example, Xylocopa), and Leaf-cutting 

 Bees (Megachile), the latter a large genus, which excavate tunnels in the 

 ground, or in decayed wood, and line them with circular discs cut from flowers 

 and leaves. They are responsible for the neatly cut holes seen on leaves 

 in the garden during the summer. At least eleven pieces are used to make 

 one single cell. (The Cuckoo Humble Bees of the genus Psithyrus, or 

 Apathus, having no means of gathering pollen, live in other humble bees' 

 nests, and closely resemble their hosts, who bring up their guests' larvae as 

 well as their own.) 



Humble Bees. Of these there are some forty different species in Great 

 Britain, many of which are familiar on account of their great size and loud 

 humming, from which they get their name of " Humble" or " Bumble " Bee. 

 Their nests are found in various situations. The Moss Bee (Bombus muscorum) 



