138 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



Tlie worker is barely balf the size of the queen, and is marked 

 in a similar manner, except that white hairs are mixed with the 

 yellow. The male is intermediate in size between the female 

 and worker, being about three-fourths of an inch in length. The 

 yellow is brighter than in the female, and the tip of the abdomen 

 is covered with light tawny hairs. 



The right-hand nest in the illustration is that of the Eed- 

 tipped Humble Bee of Shakspere, known as the Lapidaky Bee 

 {Bombus lapidarius), which derives its specific name from its 

 habit of making its nest within heaps of stone. This beautiful 

 insect is plentiful in most parts of England, and may be known 

 by the bright orange-red hue which decorates the last three seg- 

 ments of the abdomen. The female and worker of this species 

 are precisely alike, except in their size ; the former, which is popu- 

 larly called the queen bee, measuriug nearly an inch from the 

 head to the tip of the tail, while the worker is scarcely half that 

 length. The male is very variable in colour, but is generally 

 black, with thick yellowish hairs upon the face, the fore part of 

 the thorax, and the first segment of the abdomen. 



I have always found this species to be fiercer than the pre- 

 ceding, and have more than once been driven away from the 

 neighbourhood of the nest by its rapid and incessant attacks. 

 The sting with which this bee is armed is a very formidable 

 weapon, and the poison which it conveys into the wound is 

 extremely virulent, causing nrach pain, and leaving a dull, 

 aching sensation for several days afterwards. These symptoms, 

 however, vary according to the individual who is stung, and 

 those which are mentioned are described according to personal 

 experience. 



Generally, the Lapidary Bee makes its nest in heaps of stone, 

 sometimes choosing those hillocks of rough stones which are 

 heaped on the sides of roads, awaiting the stonc-breakcr and his 

 hammer. Sometimes the fallen dSbris of limestone rocks affords 

 a residence for this bee, and, in many instances, it burrows into 

 the ground, and there makes its nest, just like that of the 

 common humble bee. 



Eighteen species of the true British Humble Bees are now re- 

 cognised, all of them social in their habits, but varying much in 

 the localities and form of their dwellings. Several of them will 



