Humble Bee.- 



-INSECTS.- 



-MOSS-BUILDEKS. 



199 



can have failed in early spring, wlien tlie catkins are 

 first found on the willow, to notice tlie loud hum of the 

 females of different species of Bomli ; and in May, 

 when the horse-chesnut hlooras, from the break to the 

 close of day the hum of these industrious bees is 

 unceasing. Various authors have written on the econ- 

 omy of these bees. In the winter, torpid fenialts are 

 found in decayed trunks of trees, under turf-stacks, or 

 in other sheltered and dry situations. These females, 

 having passed the winter in a torpid condition, revive 

 under the influence of the warmth of spring, and 

 become each the foundress of a separate colony. The 

 first nests which they construct are of small dimensions, 

 only sufficient to contain a few cells, in which they 

 rear the workers who assist them in the formation of 

 tlie works necessary to the wants of a large colony. 

 When the larvje are full grown, they spin a tough, oval, 

 silk cocoon, in which they assume the nymph state; 

 and, when sufficiently advanced towai'ds maturity to 

 roipure food, they begin to gnaw oft' the crown of their 

 imprisoning chamber, in doing which they are assisted 

 materially by the workers. On first emerging from 

 their confinemerrt they are by no means matured. 

 Their pubescence is of a uniform pale colour, and some 

 days elapse before they acquire the gay livery which they 

 have assumed ere they fly. The males and females are 

 not reared before the season is well advanced. The 

 males of the Bornhus irratorum are the first that appear, 

 beginning to come forth about the third week in iMay. 

 Tlie nests are infested by several insects which devour 

 the wax and honey, and with others which destroy the 

 young brood. 



The Humble bees have likewise a parasitic genus of 

 bees, which live in their nests. They form a separate 

 genus called Apalhus. I do not know what office 

 these bees perform in the economy of the nest. They 

 live on the most friendly terms with the industrious 

 part of tlie community ; and it is probable that irjion 

 them devolves some important oftice, the nature of 

 which it would be very interesting to discover. It 

 has been supposed, from the very close resemblance 

 of the Ajxithi to the Bomhi, that the former are an 

 idle race, reared at the expense of the industrious 

 bees, and wearing a livery in imitation of them for 

 the purpose of deception ; but there can be little 

 doubt of these aristocrats of the community perform- 

 ing important and necessary duties highly conducive 

 to the general prosperity of the whole. That the 

 close resemblance of these bees is not for tlie pur- 

 pose of deception, is at once proved by the fact of 

 ApntJnis harbiitellus, a yellow-banded bee, being found 

 in tlie nest of Bomhus Dcrhamellus, a black species, 

 having the tip of the body red. 



The numbers of which the societies of Ilumble-boes 

 consist, vary greatly in different species. Generally 

 speaking, those, whose nest is above ground, have the 

 smallest number. In a nest of Boinbus senilis were 

 found twenty-two females, forty-four workers, and six- 

 teen males, many of the males having left the nest. Of 

 undeveloped workers the comlis contained twenty-seven 

 pupas, and nine of males. Of empty cells believed to 

 liave held males, there were ten, making a total of one 

 hundred and twenty-eight. In a nest of Bomhus fra- 



grans, a species met with in the north, five females and 

 about twenty workers were taken, so that it is a species 

 with a small community. The nest of Bombns terrestris, 

 taken in August, contained thirty-five females, twenty 

 males, and one hundred and sixty workers ; but by this 

 time the majority of the males and females had left the 

 nest. There were found in this nest, besides, two 

 females of Apathus vestalis, and nine of the males of 

 that parasite. The Moss-builders among the Humble 

 bees appear to have very little pugnacity, as they show 

 no courage in the defence of their citadel, while the 

 underground nest builders are bold insects, and defend 

 their homes, when attacked, with great courage. 



The species called Moss-builders often compose their 

 nests of nothing but grass and leaves, although in 

 situations, where moss is abundant, tliey use it in the 

 construction of their habitations. To show that these 

 diligent hairy creatures make use of such materials as 

 come most readily to them, an interesting instance 

 has been recorded : — " One of the brown species of 

 Humble bees was observed frequently flying into a 

 stable through the latticed window. The bee was 

 busily engaged in collecting bundles of short horse- 

 hair accianulated from the currying of horses. This 

 she fled oft" with to a short distance, and settled down 

 with it among some grass. On examining the spot, 

 a nest composed entirely of horse-hair was discovered." 

 Unfortunately this interesting nest was destroyed, 

 before it was quite finished. The same author men- 

 tions another curious deviation from its usual site, 

 as selected by an eccentric black Humble bee with 

 yellow bands {Bomhus pratoruml). This was the nest 

 of a robin, which built in the porch of Dr. William Bell's 

 cottage at Putney in the summer of 1854. The 

 Humble bee took possession of this nest, and adapted 

 it to her own purposes. 



No fewer than eighteen species of true Bombus have 

 been described as occurring in Great Britain, but we 

 have not space for them. 



We have alluded under the preceding genus to 

 Apathus, which closely resembles it in most particulars, 

 though the posterior tibiae have no corbiculoe, and are 

 convex on the outside. There are only males and 

 females of the Apathi. Four species are described as 

 natives of this country. 



Bead this distinguishing description of a Humble 

 bee by Professor Wilson, the far-fiimed Christopher 

 North.* How often he had watched them on the moors 

 of Renfrewshire, and on the hills of Scotland and 

 Westmoreland ! 



" True to thy time, even to a balmy minute, art 

 thou, with thy velvet tunic of black, striped with yellow, 

 as thou windcst thy small but not sullen horn, by us 

 called in our pride humble bee ; but not, metbinks, 

 so very humble, while booming liigh in air in oft- 

 repeated circles. As if the smell of some far off darling 

 heather had touched thy finest instinct, away thou 

 fleest straight southward to that rich flower-store, 

 unerringly as the carrier pigeon wafting to distant lands 

 some love message on its wings. Yet humble after 

 all thou art; for all day making thy industry thy 

 delight, thou returncst at shut of day cheerful even in 

 * Recreations of C. N., vol. ii., p. 48. 



