320 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



growing herbs as the normal food-plants of this species. I 

 have now some specimens of the larva in a breeding-cage, 

 with chickweed and a branch of blackthorn (for other 

 larvae) ; I was much surprised to see Viilica forsake its proper 

 food and take to feeding on the sloe. Has any breeder 

 of this species observed this habit before ? — R, Meldola ; 21, 

 John Street, Bedford Roiv, May 18, 1871. 



Questio7is on the Honey Bee. — 1. How long will the honey 

 bee continue to use the same old comb for brood and honey ? 

 2. Which gathers the most and best honey ; the common 

 honey bee or the Ligurian ? 3. Has the statement of M. 

 Gelien, the Swiss author of ' Le Conservateur des Abeilles,' 

 asserting that four hives, placed in one domicile, eat no more 

 during the winter than a single one, ever been confirmed by 

 the experiments of others ? 4. Do bees ever gather honey 

 from poisonous plants in such a way as to deteriorate the 

 quality ? 5. Has it yet been ascertained whether bees send 

 out scouts for the purpose of choosing a new retreat prior to 

 swarming? If any of your correspondents, who take an 

 interest in the honey bee, can enlighten me on some of these 

 points, I shall be extremely indebted to them. — S. T. Kleiii ; 

 Hailshury College, Herts. 



Stauropus Fagi on the Cotswolds. — Two specimens of this 

 rarity I captured on the 13th of May in a beech and larch 

 plantation on the Cotwolds, about five miles from Gloucester: 

 they were at rest on the trunks of beech trees. A third speci- 

 men had been taken in the same place, about a week 

 previously, by Mr. Marsden. This species, as far as I am 

 aware, is new to the Gloucester district. — Joseph Merrin ; 

 Gloucester. 



Acronycta Alni at West Stow. — Yesterday I captured a 

 small, but beautifully coloured, specimen of Acronycta Alni, 

 just out of the chrysalis, asleep on some palings at West 

 Stow. I once took the caterpillar in the same locality on 

 birch. — \_Rev.'\ A. H. Wratislaw ; School Hall, Bury St, 

 Edmunds, May 19, 1871. 



The Hornet gnawitig the smooth hark of Elm — During the 

 dry liot weather in August and September, 1870, 1 frequently 

 noticed hornets ( Vespa Craho) gnawing the young and smooth 

 bark from wood of eight or nine years' growth of a variety of 

 Ulmus campestris or U. montana. So busily were they 



