28 



spirits, and not from any wanton love of cruelty, and the restless play-loving boy grows, 

 up to be a kind and tender-hearted man. 



Thinking that some of our boy-readers, at any rate, if not their elders, would like to 

 know something more about the habits and lives of the humble or " bumble " bees (as- 

 they are popularly called in the country), whose nests they rob, we shall attempt to give- 

 some little account of them. 



The name "humble" bee, usually applied to these insects in books, has no reference 

 to any latent grace of humility supposed to exist in them, but is derived — like the more 

 popular term " Bumble " bee — from the loud humming noise they make when flying,, 

 and which is especially noticeable when they accidentally come into a room and are unable 

 to find their way out again. The same phonetic origin may be observed in the names 

 employed in other languages, for instance hummel in German, bourdon in French, and 

 the scientific name bombus, derived from the Greek word for the buzzing noise of bees. 

 In Scotland also, and in some parts of the United States, large species of this genus are 

 called bumbees. As we may infer from the variety of names, these insects are widely 

 distributed throughout the world, being found in all temperate regions, except Australasia,, 

 and even in far northern regions within the Arctic circle. Our friend, W. Bowles, relates 

 in his paper (Report of the Ent. Soc. of Ontario, 1879), that while thirteen species of 

 this genus are found in Arctic America, only seven are found in Canada and eight in the 

 New England States. 



Early in the spring, as soon as the willow catkins are in bloom, the big, handsome, 

 yellow-uniformed queen-bees, who alone have lived through the winter, may be seen buz- 

 zing about, searching everywhere for a suitable place for their nests. They fly about here 

 and there close to the ground, alighting every now and then, and creeping into the grass 

 and weeds, and then oft' again with a busy, good-humoured bum, taking alarm very easily 

 and flying away on the least appearance of danger. The object of all this searching is 

 usually the deserted winter- quarters of a field or barn-house, where the bee finds ready 

 for her purposes a hidden burrow and a chamber filled with a nice soft bundle of dry hay 

 or grass. Generally these nests are well concealed under ground, or beneath stones or rub- 

 bish, but sometimes in meadows they are quite on the surface with no protection from the 

 foot of the passer by or the mower's sharp scythe. When at length the queen-bee has 

 determined upon her future abode, and has provided a suitable passage way to it from . 

 the outer air, she collects from the early spring- flowers a small amount of pollen mixed 

 with honey, and deposits in it from half a dozen to a dozen eggs ; then she gathers more- 

 pollen and honey, and lays the eggs for a second brood, and so on till the colony is com- 

 plete. The eggs, according to the observations of Professor Putnam * are " laid in contact 

 with each other, in the cavity of the mass of pollen, with a part of which they are 

 slightly covered. They are very soon developed ; in fact the lines are nowhere distinctly 

 drawn between the egg and the larva, the larva and the pupa, and again between the 

 latter and the imago, a perfect series, shewing this gradual transformation of the young 

 to the imago, can be found in almost every nest. 



" As soon as the larva' are capable of motion and commence feeding, they oat the 

 pdlen by which they are surrounded, and gradually separating, push their way in various 

 directions. Eating as they move and increasing in size quite rapidly, they soon make 

 huge cavities in the pollen mass. When they have attained their full size, they spin a 

 silken wall about them, which is strengthened by the old bee (after the first brood has 

 matured) covering it with a thin layer of wax, which soon becomes hard and tough, and 

 thus the cells are formed. The larva- now gradually attain the pupa stage, and remain | 

 inactive until their full development. They then cut their way out and are ready to- 

 assume their several duties as workers, small females, males or queens, according to their 

 individual formation. 



" It is apparent that the irregular disposition of the cells is due to their being con- 

 structed so peculiarly by the larvae. After the first brood, composed of workers, has 

 come fort li, the .[ueen-bee devotes her time principally to her duties at home, the workers 



*" Notes on the habits of some species of Hunilile Bees," By F. W. Putnam, in the proceedings of the 

 [nstitute, Salem, M:.>s., vol. iv., Oct. Ism. 



