OR, PLAIN 



dome. Internally the dome, 

 which is five or six inches in 

 height, is lined with a coat of 

 wax in order to render it im- 

 pervious to rain. In collecting 

 their materials, the bees form a. 

 file of several individuals, ex- 

 tending, at short distances apart, 

 from the nest to the spot where 

 the materials are to be obtained ; 

 the last bee disengages the moss, 

 and having with her fore-limbs 

 made it up into a small felted 

 bundle, she pushes it under her 

 body to the next in rotation ; 

 this transfers it to the next 

 again, and so on till it is con- 

 ducted to the nest. To the in- 

 terior of the dome a covered 

 way, often extending for the 

 distance of twelve or fourteen 

 inches, always leads ; its width 

 is about half an inch, and the 

 passage is not more than suffi- 

 cient to admit the ingress or 

 egress of a single bee. With 

 regard to the economy of these 

 moss-carding humble bees, it is 

 precisely the same as that of the 

 common species. 



If these humble bees and carder 

 bees be patiently watched, they 

 may often be traced to their re- 

 treats. The population of a nest 

 seldom exceeds one or two hun- 

 dred, and may be divided into 

 females, males, and workers. 

 The females are of two sorts — 

 very large, and small. The 

 large females, or queens, look 

 like giants compared to the 

 smaller females and workers or 

 neuters ; they produce males, 

 females, and workers ; but the 

 smnll females produce only male 

 eggs. The large females, there- 



teaching. 285 



fore, we may regard as the foun- 

 ders of every colony. They 

 emerge, in an established colony, 

 from their pupa state in the 

 autumn, and pair in that season 

 with males, the produce of the 

 small females which have pre- 

 viously acquired their due deve- 

 lopment. On the approach of 

 winter these large females (there 

 is no queen paramount) retire, 

 each to a little snug apartment 

 lined with moss or grass, and 

 separate from the general vault, 

 passing the cold season in a state 

 of torpidity. Early in the spring 

 they awake, issue forth, and take 

 different directions, seeking for 

 some convenient spot in which 

 to begin their labours, and at 

 this time may be seen exploring 

 every hole or crevice in banks, 

 or on the ground.* 



The economy of wasjis and 

 hornets is scarcely less interest - 



* Knight's Museum of Animated Natme. 



