314 
BRITISH BEES. 
and forty; but it is in those that construct their nests 
above the ground that the fewest are found. As with 
the general population, so with the relative proportions 
of the sexes, the several species vary. Of course all 
these numbers arc approximative only, as under certain 
conditions they will necessarily differ, nor are the general 
or relative numbers identical, even in the same species, 
in the same season, and in the same locality. The pro¬ 
portions are usually somewhat like this, about double 
the number of neuters to females, and nearly the same 
number of males as of females. In some of the com¬ 
munities there are even as few as twenty neuters, and 
these, of course, comprise those species which are most 
rarely found by collectors. The most pugnacious of all, 
and the fiercest in their attacks and most painful in 
their stings, are those which live underground or in 
cavities formed of accumulations of stones, and it is these 
which arc the least constructive in their habitations, as 
if their truculent nature rejected the concomitants of 
incipient civilization; for it is those which build moss- 
nests, requiring a certain amount of skill, that are the 
most gentle in their habits. With the increase of 
numbers in the habitation, the rapidity of the labours 
progresses, and the accumulations quickly increase; but 
there is always opportunity for the entire community to 
find employment, either in enlarging their nests, when 
they build them, or in securing them from the intrusion 
of water, or repelling enemies, or feeding the young, and 
accumulating stores. In collecting pollen they are often 
covered as if they had rolled themselves in it, and this 
they brush from their hairy bodies chiefly with their 
posterior legs; sometimes they return in this disguised 
condition, and free themselves from it only at home; in 
