INSECTS AND VERMES. 269 



nests with the raspings of sound timber ; 

 hornets, with what they gnaw from de- 

 cayed : these particles of wood are kneaded 

 up with a mixture of saliva from their 

 bodies and moulded into combs. 



When there is no fruit in the gardens, 

 wasps eat flies, and suck the honey from 

 flowers, from ivy blossoms, and umbellated 

 plants : they carry ofl* also flesh from 

 butchers' shambles. White. 



In the year 1775 wasps abounded so 

 prodigiously in this neighbourhood, that, 

 in the month of August, no less than seven 

 or eight of their nests were ploughed up 

 in one field ; of which there were several 

 instances, as I was informed. 



In the Spring, about the beginning of 

 April, a single wasp is sometimes seen, 

 which is of a larger size than usual ; this I 

 imagine is the queen or female wasp, the 

 mother of the future swarm. 



Markwick. 



