158 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



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 stone-breaker and his 

 hammer. Sometimes the fallen debris 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 com- 

 mon humble-bee. 



Eighteen species of the true British Humble-bees are now rec- 

 ognized, all of them social in their habits, but varying much in the 

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

 described in a future page. Meanwhile, it will suf&ce to mention 

 that the use of scientific terms, when speaking of these insects, is 

 absolutely necessary, the popular mind not having recognized 

 the different species, which are, in consequence, without popular 

 names. Any Humble-bee, no matter what species, is known as a 

 Bumble-bee, a Foggie, a Dumbledore, or a Hummel-bee, accord- 

 ing to the peculiar dialect of the locality ; and very few persons 

 seem to have any idea that there can be more than one species. 



There is one well-known and very handsome insect, which is 

 equally disliked by the bee-keeper, the gardener, and the grocer, 

 as it annoys them greatly in their respective callings. This is the 

 common Wasp {Vespa vulgaris), which is equally fond of honey, 

 fruit, and sugar ; and as it is armed with a potent weapon, is not 

 merely a hateful marauder, but a formidable enemy. The gar- 

 dener, however, is the least injured of the three, for the Wasp 

 confers upon him some slight benefits, which counteract in some 

 degree the inroads which.it makes upon his treasures. It is true 

 that the Wasp is very fond of ripe fruit, and that with an unfail- 

 ing instinct it prefers the choicest fruits, exactly when they are in 

 their best condition, gnawing holes in them, and spoiling them for 

 the market. Still it is more of a predacious than a vegetable- 

 feeding insect, and kills so many flies that it relieves the garden- 

 er of other foes, which, in the end, would be more injurious than 

 itself, inasmuch as the larva endangers not only the fruit but the 

 very life of the plant. It is a strangely bold insect, and has re- 

 course to singular -methods of procuring food. In the farming 

 department at Walton Hall, I have seen the pigs lying in the 

 warm sunshine, the flies clustering thickly on their bodies, and 

 the Wasps pouncing on the flies and carrying them off. It was 

 a curious sight to watch the total indifference of the pigs, the 



