174 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S WEEKLY INTELLIGENCER. 
locality, I overheard a gentleman ex- 
claim, “ That ’s a remarkable fact ! ” He 
then left the room, and a little book 
which he had been reading lay open upon 
the table; my curiosity induced me to 
look into it; at the top of the page I read 
“ Bees of Great Britain it is written by 
a person of the name of Smith, — perhaps 
you know him: at p. 209 he says he has 
been twenty years endeavouring to ac- 
quire a knowledge of us; if he were 
twenty more he would still have some- 
thing to learn. “That’s a remarkable 
fact!” the words induced me to try, if 
possible, to ascertain what wonderful dis- 
covery he had made. I found it was a 
humble-bee had taken possession of a 
robin’s nest, and adapted it to her own 
purposes. 
Now, sir, I ’ll tell him a similar fact. 
A neighbour of mine, Mrs. Praforum, 
noticed a beautifully-made nest hanging 
from a straw thatch at Mortlake, in Sur- 
rey, last summer ; it was the nest of a 
jenny wren, exactly suited to Mrs. Pra- 
torum’s requirements ; so she took pos- 
session of it immediately. Now, that’s 
a fact quite as remarkable as Mr. Smith’s. 
I ’ve noticed many omissions of names 
of friends of mine in his book ; but I 
don’t intend touching upon more than 
one inaccuracy at a time, particularly as 
I am about to lay up for the winter. At 
p. 210 Mr. Stnith says, “The Bomhi 
have a parasitic genus of bees which in- 
habit their nests, the Apalhi.’’ Have 
they, Mr. Smith ? and because they differ 
from us in not being fitted for labour out 
of doors or in, they’re parasites! I deny 
it; they are our nobility — our aristo- 
cracy. “ No government can be well 
governed and permanently prosperous 
without an aristocracy : ” that ’s my 
ma.\im. Look at the state of things in 
those c(donies which have no aristocracy, 
— the Syloamrns, Sc/uiinshiranus and 
some others, — what a fechle race ! See 
the dilference in those colonics which 
possess one. Let .Mr, Smith poke his 
nnse into the premises of my neighbour 
Mrs. Lapidarius, and he’ll soon be con- 
verted to my opinion. The Apalhi are 
our nobility ; gladly and willingly we 
support them in their elevated station, .as 
it is our boundeu duty to do; there are 
no labourers amongst them. Learn then 
from a humble bee the distinction be- 
tween the parasites and the aristocracy of 
our race. Our parasites are a set of fel- 
lows who dress themselves up in the 
livery of our working population, — you 
know the gentry I allude to ; one is called 
Volucella boinbyluns, another Volucella 
pluniata; there are two or three others of 
the same set, — these are our parasites, — 
these are the monsters who deceive us, 
who live upon us, and who impoverish 
our communities by destroying our young 
brood. 
Now, sir, that’s placing things in a 
right light, by a simple statement of facts, 
but the Apalhi — our parasites ! don’t re- 
peat that, Mr. Smith. 
It’s not very likely that you w’ill hear 
from me for some time to come : I begin 
to feel a little drowsy ; the last two or 
three nights have beeu very cold, and 
I’m looking out for winter quarters: I 
saw some yesterday at the foot of High- 
gate Hill, and nearly fell off into a doze 
whilst surveying them, and you know 
that if I once do so nothing wdll wake 
me up again but the sun, when it shines 
warm and comfortable, and tells me that 
spring is come, and is scattering flowers 
over the fresh green fields, and that the 
birds are singing a joyful chorus with all 
their hearts to bid her welcome. 
Bomuus Tkurestuis. 
THE WINTEU MOTH. 
What ! alive and so bold, 0 Moth 
Art thou not over bold ? 
Why earnest thou forth in the cold.'’ 
Dost thou know that the winter doth 
