202 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



tree, that would be exposed to all the rigours of a cold winter. In 

 very warm climates they are able to breed in the open, and there 

 attach the combs on limbs of trees, or under an overhanging 

 ledge of a rock. Under certain conditions they may even seek 

 a very shady place to keep the combs from melting. This habit 

 of building in the open may still be observed amongst domesticated 

 bees that have become feral, and must be inherited from an an- 

 cestral race, as it could not well have been acquired in a climate 

 like that of New Zealand, where I once noticed it, and where it 

 would act detrimentally to the survival of the stock. Even in 

 Australia, where it is not an uncommon occurrence, it seems not 

 to be conducive to their prosperity, since the combs I have seen 

 attached to rocks in the northern parts of New South Wales were 

 never very large, nor their builders apparently very numerous. 

 On the other hand, it is well known that bees thrive extremely 

 well in this country when they have nested in a hollow tree, where 

 they obtain sufficient protection against the changes of the weather. 

 They are therefore evidently the production of a tropical or sub- 

 tropical region of the globe, where an equable climate predominates 

 throughout the whole year, for they succumb in colder climates 

 without artificial protection. 



It seems fairly certain that the bee has been introduced into 

 many countries at a very early date. Even in remote times they 

 have been found either domesticated or feral in countries which 

 they could not have reached naturally, owing to their geographical 

 position. I will only mention Corsica, an extensive island in the 

 Mediterranean, whence the ancient Romans drew large supplies 

 of wax. The bee could never have reached an island except by 

 artificial introduction. Many similar cases might be instanced, 

 but it is scarcely necessary, as it is well known to naturalists that 

 even when the multiplication of an insect merely depends upon a 

 single pair, or perhaps only upon a pregnant female, its distribution 

 becomes frequently limited through geographical barriers, such as 

 mountains or water, it is obvious that the Honey-bee could not 

 establish itself in a new locality, when it would have to encounter 

 such difficulties, because it would require at least a swarm, with a 

 fertile queen, to do so. The expansion of the species could not 

 take place except by an open landway, and therefore must have 

 been artificiallv assisted when natural obstacles intervene. 



