2i6 
NATURE NOTES 
hybernated specimens. Clouded Yellows hybernate like the Vanessida Brim- 
stone, like them they pair in the spring, and then lay their eggs. From these 
the perfect insect appears in the autumn. 
In proof of this let me say that on Portsdown Hill years ago I saw a hyber- 
nated specimen of the Clouded Yellow (Colias edusa) lay an egg on a clover leaf 
one spring. This leaf I picked with the egg on it. I then caught the butterfly, 
which I took, leaf, egg, and all, to my neighbour, the late Mr. Wm. Buckler, 
the entomologist, whose drawings of insects were some of the finest I have ever 
seen, and whose collection of British Lepidoptera is now, I believe, in the 
possession of the Ray Society. Mr. Buckler put the butterfly under a bell glass, 
with some clover planted in a pot, on which she laid a quantity of eggs. I saw 
the caterpillars raised from these eggs, and a number were liberated. Ab uno 
disce omnes. After experience such as this no hybernation of the “sensitive 
caterpillar”; no theory of “immigration from abroad”; no aid from wind to 
blow the perfect insects over from the Continent, are necessary to account for 
their occurrence in this country. 
Ed.mund Thos. Daubeny. 
302 . Destroying Wasps. — More ways than one of taking wasps nests 
are mentioned, and fully described, in the pages of one of the summer issues of 
the Fishing Gazette for the present year (1905), published at St. Dunstan’s House, 
Fetter Lane, London. 
A. B. W. 
303 . Humming in the Air. — This question has been ventilated of late 
in your columns, with the usual result in such matters, that some stick to one 
opinion as to its origin, and others to another. I have been honoured by my 
ideas — given in Nature Notes — appearing now and then in other periodicals. 
We have just had a spell of cold easterly winds, ending with a downfall of 
much needed rain. Next day, September 26, I heard the well-known hum all 
round, above and over the tops of the trees, and, as usual, looked around if 
by any chance the cause would declare itself. I searched everywhere for bees, 
but they were not in evidence. Above my head, however, and apparently in 
every direction, flies of different kinds, and other winged insects, were disporting 
themselves. Ten feet from the ground, and as high as I could see them, flies 
were playing with each other just as the house-fly does in our homes. Other and 
smaller flies in quantities, many no larger than winged aphides, were flying 
aimlessly backwards and forwards, apparently for mere pleasure, and enjoying 
the return of more genial warmth. Who can say that these were not the cause 
of the pervading hum? Methinks they were. It is rather late in the year for 
this humming, which lasted but a short time ; and the insects were much lower 
down than is their habit in the height of summer. 
September 2"] , 1905. Edmund Thos. Daubeny. 
304 . Honey Dew. — Mr. E. T. Daubeny again misrepresents me. I did 
not say that the “ paving stones were in the open and away from the influence of 
trees.” They were directly beneath the maple and lime trees that I alluded to, 
from the leaves of which the honey dew was pouring. It stained the pavement 
beneath black. It was visible in my road for several days in the summer of 1904. 
It could be seen in several different places, but there was more under the maples 
(sycamore) than under the limes. I have seen honey dew fall on the pavement on 
many occasions previous to that. Mr. Daubeny says truly that honey dew is very 
sticky and very sweet. The presence of sugar in it is unmistakable. When 
it first exudes it is more liquid than it is afterwards. Mr. Daubeny is wrong if he 
means to say that honey dew comes from “ a fir tree, a laurel, or a cabbage.” Nor 
have I ever seen it on an “ oak.” It is certainly not found on the plane, poplar, 
or beech. There is no doubt that honey dew from different plants varies as much 
as sugar from different plants varies. It would be very difficult to tell the 
difference. Maple contains a great deal of sugar. The sweetness of lime trees is 
noticeable in the scent of the blossom. I believe that the starch first turns into 
sugar, which afterwards ferments and forces its way through the upper surface 
of the leaves. Miss K. M. Hall suggests, in your August number, that honey dew 
