THE BEE NATION. 289' 



winding, has, as a rule, a guard stationed in it, which has to 

 drive away ants and other insects. Godart also states 

 (Brehm, loc. cit., ix., p. 219) that each humble bee's nest has 

 a trumpeter, who mounts to the roof early in the morning, 

 flutters his wings, and wakes the inhabitants to work by 

 trumpeting ! The industry and intelligence of the humble 

 bees increase, however, with the size of their community. 

 Small societies confine themselves to what is necessary, pre- 

 pare no wax covering, do not lengthen their honey-cells, 

 etc., while in larger ones a kind of emulation in the best 

 care of the house and tendance of the young impels them to 

 increased efforts. 



Each species of humble bee, like most species of bees, 

 and like so many races of insects, has parasites or spongers 

 resembling it in form and appearance, which utilise this 

 likeness to put their eggs in the prepared nests, and then fly 

 away without troubling themselves further about them. They 

 have neither pleasure in nor ability for work, for their work 

 instruments are rudimentary, apparently by long disuse ; 

 they lose nothing also thereby, for their eggs are brought to 

 maturity with those of their host. 



