OR, MANUAL OF THE APIARY. 41 



forms her nest under some sod or board, often in a deserted 

 mouse-nest, hollowing^ out a basin in the earth, and after stor- 

 ing' a mass of bee-bread she deposits several eggs in the mass. 

 The larvae are soon hatched out and develop in larg'e, coarse 

 cells, not unlike the queen-cells of our hive-bees. When the 

 bees issue from these cells the latter are strengthened with 

 wax, Later in the season, these coarse wax-cells, which con- 

 tain much pollen, become very numerous, serving both for 

 brood and honey. At first, in spring, the queen has all to do, 

 hence the magnificent bumble-bees, the queens, seen about the 

 lilacs in early sprinjy. Soon the smaller workers become 

 abundant, and relieve the queen, which then seldom leaves the 

 nest. L/ater, the drones and the smaller, because yet unim- 

 pregnated and non-laying, queens appear. Thus, the bees 

 correspond with those of the hive. The young queens mate in 

 late summer, and are probably the only ones that survive the 

 winter. Mating is performed on the wing. I once saw a 

 queen Bombus fall to the earth, dragging a male from which 

 she would have torn loose had I not captured both. The bum- 

 ble-bee drones are often seen collected about shady places at 

 the mating season in August. 



Bees of the genus Xylocopa much resemble bumble-bees, 

 though they are usually black, less hairy, and are our largest 

 bees. They have not the corbicul^. These are among our 

 finest examples of boring insects. With their strong biden- 

 tate jaws they cut long tunnels, often two or more feet long, 

 in sound wood. These burrows are partitioned by chips into 

 cells, and in each cell is left an egg and bee-bread for the 

 larva, soon to hatch. These bees do no slight damage by 

 boring into cornices, window-casings, etc., of houses and out- 

 buildings. At my suggestion, many people thus annoyed 

 have plugged these tunnels with a mixture of lard and kero- 

 sene, and have speedily driven the offending bees away. These 

 are the bees which I have discovered piercing the base of long 

 tubular flowers, like the wild bergamot. I have seen honey- 

 bees visiting these slitted flowers, the nectar of which was 

 thus made accessible to them. I have never seen honey-bees 

 biting flowers. I think they never do it. Xylocopa Califor- 

 nica is very common here at Claremont. The females are 



