OF THE HUMBLE-BEE. 63 



common bee, but sbe is afterwards assisted by her own offspring. She 

 is very sparing of her labour, as also of that of those which she breeds ; 

 for I believe she never makes any provision to have her hive formed, 

 but in making it often chooses some accidental place, as a mouse's nest ; 

 and, although we find cells, yet these are not formed by her, but only 

 by the maggot going into the chrysalis state ; so that they appear to 

 have been more busy than what they really are, for the whole of the 

 cells are formed by the young maggot-bees ; the queen's whole labour 

 is the formation of one cell of wax, bringing in farina, and laying eggs. 



It is to be remarked, that when I speak of they or them, I mean 

 principally the labourers, although the queens may often be included, 

 more especially at first, when she is beginning to form her colony, but 

 never the males ; for the variety in the actions of the humble-bee, or 

 the oeconomy of the hive, belongs chiefly to the labourers. 



There are two periods where we may begin the history of the humble- 

 bee: viz. either in the autumn, when the female is copulating, just 

 before she goes into winter- quarters ; or in the beginning of summer, 

 when she comes out to propagate, which last is the only time that can 

 be called a beginning of their history, as the going into winter-quarters 

 is only a simple act of a young queen bee, but which I shall begin with, 

 because it leads to the coming forth in the spring. We shall find that 

 the labourers are capable of breeding the same season, which produces 

 a variety, as also an irregularity in the history of this bee. 



Of the Winter Habitation of the Queen. — None but the young queens 

 live through the winter : they leave their hives, and go into such places 

 as instinct directs them to ; but as those places are what may be called 

 hiding-places, they are not easily detected. Not finding any on the 

 taking down of old houses, nor in the removal of old brick walls, nor 

 being informed by carpenters and bricklayers in the country that they 

 ever observed any, I gave orders to my gardener to observe, whenever 

 he took down any bank or dug up any old dry ground, to have an eye 

 on this subject ; and two humble-bees having been found in the winter 

 in the bank of a haw-haw, therefore I conceive a certain degree of 

 moisture is necessaiy for their preservation. Their holes are, I believe, 

 such as have been made by moles, and probably shrews and land-mice. 

 It would appear they go to them at once ; for we do not find humble- 

 bees flying about in autumn in search of such a place, as we find them 

 in the beginning of summer in search of holes to form their hives in, — a 

 sleeping-place in the winter requiring less of everything than a place 

 for the hive in the summer, although there are at this season fifty 

 queens going into winter-quarters for one that comes out. 



According to the state of the weather in the autumn they go sooner 



