HYMENOPTERA. 



45 



burrows in the ground, in holes of trees, or clefts and cracks in walls ; the cells 

 being separated by partitions, and made of the ruins of the burrow or cleft. 

 Generally the whole nest has the form of a twisted tube. Like their allies, these 

 bees are solitary, and, like humble-bees, are much infested by parasites. Finally, 

 we have the long-horned bees, of which one species (Eucera longicomis) is shown 

 in the same illustration. These bees construct smooth tunnels in the earth, divided 

 as usual into sections, each of which contains one egg, together with a supply of 

 pollen and honey for the future larva. 



True Bees, — Family Apidje. 



In this group are included not only the various kinds of honey-bees, but 

 likewise their more clumsy cousins the humble-bees. Such a well-known insect 

 as the common honey-bee ( Apis meliftca), of which the habits have been already 

 referred to, requires no special notice; but it is important to observe that the 



1, COMMON HUMBLE-BEE WITH NEST; 2, STONE HUMBLE-BEE. (Nat. size.) 



honey-bees of the equatorial zone differ somewhat from those inhabiting more 

 temperate regions, in consequence of which they are assigned to distinct genera, 

 such as Melipoma, Trigona, and Tetrasoma. All these are rather small and sting- 

 less bees, making up for the absence of a special weapon of offence by a free use 

 of their jaws. Their brood-cells and combs resemble those of the common wasp, 

 each forming but a single layer; and clay and resinous substances being chiefly 

 used for closing the entrance of the cavities in which the nest are placed. The 

 characteristic transitional features in the shape of the cells, intermediate between 

 the simple cylindrical and the perfect hexagonal forms, have already been noticed 

 in the short introductory remarks. Melipoma and its allies form the connecting 

 link between the solitary and the hive-bees. As in the wasps, each family in the 

 humble-bees owes its origin to a single female which has hibernated — usually in 



