May, 1S89. 
WILD BEES. 
113 
form a very well-marked and distinct group, the Anthophila. 
which in this country consists of about two hundred species. 
According to their habits we may divide them into the 
“solitaiy” species and the “social,” the latter division, 
excluding the hive bee, consisting only of the Bombi or 
humble bees. The solitary species excavate cylindrical 
burrows in the soil, in wood (decayed or sound), and various 
other substances. The cells formed within these, wherein 
the food for the larvas is stored, in the simplest cases ( Andrena , 
&c.) consist merely of a portion of the burrow with the sides 
very carefully smoothed by the insect’s tongue ; or they may 
be plastered with several coatings of a secretion which dries 
quickly and forms a very delicate and glittering lining 
( Colletes ) ; or they may be formed of pieces cut from various 
kinds of leaves, which keep the larval food from contact with 
the sides of the burrow ; and sometimes within the leafy 
walls there may be a lining cut from the brilliant scarlet or 
pink petals of the garden geraniums ( Megachile ). Another of 
our bees (Anthidium) encloses its cells in a soft downy cover¬ 
ing composed of the hairs of the stems and leaves of Stachys 
and other plants which it scrapes off with its mandibles. 
The burrows may be simple tubes, and the cells placed 
one above the other, with partitions formed between each ; 
or short lateral tubes mav be found in communication with 
the main tube, and usually at the blind end of each of the 
lateral branches is one single cell. Each cell contains a 
little, rounded mass of pollen, its size proportional to the 
species by which it is stored, and it is moistened with a 
greater or less amount of honey. 
Two or more individuals never co-operate either in form¬ 
ing or in supplying the cells, but each is quite independent of 
its neighbour, and keeps to its own burrow when once it has 
entered upon the task of providing for its young. On the 
other hand, the social species ( Bumbus ) form communities, 
the members of which mutually assist one another in build¬ 
ing their nest and attending to the young brood. 
All bees, however, do not gather food for their young: a 
number of genera are parasitic, and these enter the burrow 
or nest of the industrial kinds and deposit their egg within, 
on the pollen which the industrial bees have gathered. 
It is necessary in considering the habits of our wild bees 
to examine a few of the more important structural characters. 
In most cases the pollen is collected on the hind legs, 
especially on the joint called the tibia. The apparatus for 
this purpose is not the same in the solitary species as in social 
ones ; in the former the tibia are covered, especially outwardly. 
