4 6 INSECTS. 



some hole in the ground which it excavates for the purpose. The hive-bees, on 

 the contrary, swarm, that is, they send off a full-grown population under a queen 

 ready to enter upon the organised life of an industrial community at once. The 

 different forms of humble-bees are much the same as those of the hive-bees, 

 namely, large females ; workers or undeveloped females ; small females which are 

 similar to the large (or queens) in structure ; and males. One very strange habit 

 has been recorded and confirmed by subsequent observations. A small female is 

 set apart for the duty of awakening the nest every morning with her piercing 

 note, and has been called the " trumpeter." It seems that only those nests which 

 are large and have plenty of spare hands can afford this luxury. 



Humble-bees, both as regards appearance and habits, are too well known to 

 need description. Of the two species figured in the annexed illustration, the 

 common humble-bee (Bombus terrestris) forms small rounded nests of carded 

 moss. On the other hand, the stone humble-bee (B. lapidarius) makes its 

 habitation in cavities among stones, where it forms an oval nest, of which only 

 the sides are covered with moss and grass. 



F. O, PICKAED-CAMBEIDGE. 



[Note. — The first ten pages of this chapter are by Mr. Pocock.] 



