190 DEVELOPMENT AND HEREDITY. 



the wonderful polymorphism of bees and ants, and 

 other insects living in organised societies. The 

 application of the explanation will be made more 

 intelligible by the following interesting account of 

 the bumblebee, which I take from Professor Eimer, 

 on Organic Evolution : " ' In spring, when the all- 

 vivifying sun has warmed the ground to a certain 

 depth, a female bumblebee creeps forth from a hole 

 dug by herself in the ground, — usually in a position 

 exposed to the sun, — or from a rotten tree-bark, or 

 from a clump of moss, or from some other retreat in 

 which she has passed her winter sleep.' 



"Thus Professor Eduard Hoffer commences his 

 description of the bumblebees of Styria,^ and he 

 goes on to describe the formation of the bumblebee 

 family as follows : — 



" At first the female bumblebee flies from flower 

 to flower, sipping honey ; then she seeks a place in 

 which to build her nest. When she has found a 

 place, — any suitable hole, — she carries into it moss, 

 grass, leaves, hairs of animals, and fine needles of 

 the fir or pine, and builds a nest closed on all sides, 

 and provided with only a single opening directed 

 towards the rising sun, and usually concealed. 

 Then she collects honey and pollen, makes a cell 



1 E. Hoffer, Die Ilummeln Stiermarks, Lebensgeschichte und Be- 

 schreibung derselben. Graz. 1852. 



