1 885-1 886 J 451 



frightened by such movement, will in all likelihood defend 

 itself by its only weapon. It is quite a calumny to say that the 

 nasty creatures are constantly prowling about for something 

 or somebody to sting. Nothing of the kind ; they are simply 

 looking for something to supply their own wants, or the wants 

 of their families at home, and, as a rule, only sting in self-defence. 

 Mr. Andrew also remarked that none of the males have stings, 

 and that they may be captured with the naked hand, with im- 

 punity, when they are known by their marks. Having finished 

 on the structure of bees, Mr. Andrew proceeded to speak of 

 their homes and their habits. He illustrated the manner of the 

 Bombus by giving a life history of Bombns lucorum, and the 

 habits oi Andrenidce by the life history oi Andrena albicans, and 

 Andrena cineraria, of which there is a very populous mixed 

 colony in the Ormeau Park, near the gardener's lodge — a colony 

 of many hundreds of burrows. Mr. Andrew's paper aimed at 

 stirring up the members of the Club to an extensive study of 

 this most marvellous of all the sub-hosts of the great host In- 

 secta, saying that if half-a-dozen members were to work their 

 might, for one summer season, they could bring to the acquaint- 

 ance of the Club a notice of the many interesting species that 

 may be annually fulfilling their life's history in our own vicinity, 

 with no cultured eye observing them. 



The second paper was by Rev. H. W. Lett, M.A., T.C.D., 

 on " The Races of the Honey Bee." 



The increase of bee-keeping, the spread of literature treat- 

 ing exclusively of the subject, and the attention paid by bee- 

 keepers in Europe, America, Asia, and Africa to the 

 improvement of the honey bee {Apis meUifica)^ have 

 demonstrated that there are at least ten distinct varieties of 

 this insect which are kept in hives. 



And though this has occurred within the last 1 5 years, no 

 notice seems to have been taken of the existence of these well- 

 marked races of the domesticated insect in its bearing on the 

 theory of evolution. That interesting chapter in the history 

 of that teaching has not yet been written, indeed the facts 



