40 THE BEE AS AN INSECT. [Ch. i. 



some apiarians, thought to be hardier than our own. 

 That they forage for stores with greater eagerness, and 

 have little hesitation in paying visits to other hives, we 

 can testify from our own observation. The following 

 anecdote will illustrate their intrusive propensities : 

 Another bee-keeper, who Hved in the same neighbour- 

 hood, was once inspecting our hives, when, on observ- 

 ing the yellow bees, he exclaimed, " Now I have found 

 out where those strange-looking bees come from; for," 

 said he, " these yellow-jackets are incessant visitors to 

 my hives. I thought they were a species of wasp that 

 had come to rob, and until now I have been unable to 

 account for their appearance at the entrance of my hive, 

 so that I have killed them by hundreds." This was not 

 at all pleasing intelligence for us, and we trust that our 

 neighbour has been more lenient to "the yellow-jackets" 

 since his visit, for such summary capital punishment was 

 wholly unmerited, because when a bee is peaceably re- 

 ceived (see page 169) it becomes naturalised, and works 

 side by side with the others in its fresh abode. We 

 are inclined to believe that more visiting takes place 

 amongst bees of different hives than bee-keepers have 

 been accustomed to suppose ; but where the Italian andi- 

 black bees are kept near each other, the foreigners being 

 conspicuous by their lighter colour, there is less difficulty 

 in identifying them when at the entrance of other 

 hives. Von Berlepsch, we find, remarks that there 

 exists during the gathering season a species of " com- 



