692 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 3, 1906. 
Some Common Insects. 
BY CLARENCE M. WEED. 
V.—The Bumble-Bees. 
The bumble bees are among the most familiar 
of all insects, their large size, handsome appear¬ 
ance and abundance combining to render them 
well known to everyone. They are among the 
largest forms of the order to which they belong, 
and are extremely useful to man through their 
habit of bringing about the cross pollination of 
the flowers of many plants as they visit the blos¬ 
soms in search of nectar and pollen. 
The only bumble bees to be found early in 
spring are the large queen bees, for this is the 
only form which succeeds in coming through the 
winter alive. The less fortunate drones and 
workers perish in autumn or early winter. Hav¬ 
ing hibernated in the shelter of some old mouse 
nest or other protection, the queen bees come 
forth in spring to visit the blossoms of willows 
and other spring flowers and to search diligently 
for a suitable site for a new nest. During sunny 
days in April and early May you may often see 
these queen bees flying next the ground in zig¬ 
zag manner, frequently alighting and exploring 
some slight opening in the debris at the soil 
surface. Such queens are looking for nesting 
sites and they seem to prefer an old mouse nest 
or something similar, protected from the intrusion 
of unwelcome guests. 
When such a nesting site is found the queen 
bee provides a mass of nectar and pollen on 
which she deposits a few eggs, the eggs hatching 
shortly into small whitish larvae which feed upon 
the bee bread thus provided by „the queen and 
finally mature into worker bumble bees much 
smaller than the queen. These worker bees assist 
in developing the colony, the queen continuing 
to lay the eggs for additional worker larvae. By 
midsummer the smaller workers become quite 
abundant and each colony consists of many in¬ 
dividuals. Toward autumn a brood of drones 
and queens is developed, and when cold weather 
comes on the workers and the drones perish 
while the queens survive the winter. 
There are many different species of bumble 
bees in various parts of the country, there gen¬ 
erally being several species in a single locality. 
These different forms vary considerably in specific 
habits, but the yearly cycle of all of them seems 
to be similar to the summary I have thus given. 
On the whole, as already indicated, these bees 
are of great value to mankind as carriers of pollen 
for fruits and flowers. Nearly all our common 
fruits are largely pollenized through the work 
of bumble bees, while many of our most beautiful 
flowers are especially adapted to them as visitors. 
For example, the columbine, one of the loveliest 
of all American wild flowers, seems to be es¬ 
pecially adapted to pollination by the queen 
bumble bees which are abundant during its 
period of blossoming. The nectar is secreted in 
five long nectar spurs which form the upper part 
of the flower as it hangs downward, these spurs 
being so long that the nectar can be reached 
only by an insect with a tongue as long as that 
of the queen bumble bee, although it also is often 
taken by humming birds. Wherever you find the 
columbine in blossom you are almost certain to 
find a large number of queen bumble bees busily 
gathering nectar and pollen from the flowers. 
The pollen is accumulated in the large pollen 
baskets on the legs of the bees, being then carried 
to the nest. A large proportion of the legumi¬ 
nous plants, the great family of peas, beans, 
clovers and vetches, seem also especially adapted 
to pollination by bumble bees, and these insects 
are among the most abundant visitors to the 
flowers of all our common fruits, both large and 
small. 
In the Bronx Woods. 
If the squirrel’s granary is not full yet, it 
will be soon. As a harvester, the squirrel has 
no equal. To perfect skill, he adds a boundless 
energy and possesses withal an infallible eye 
for the weather. I think no squirrel ever 
starved to death. At any rate, he never starved 
if there were nuts within any hole or corner of 
his domain. 
These thoughts were suggested as I strolled 
through the Bronx woods the other day. In 
every direction, there was a rustle of leaves, 
caused by the little furry harvesters as they 
darted hither and thither. But not only were 
they busy on the ground, but up aloft as well. 
From branch to branch they ran or leaped, and 
I did not doubt that the object of these 
maneuvers was to shake down the nuts. If so, 
they were not destined to enjoy the fruits of 
their labors. Under the trees boys were scat¬ 
tered about in groups of two or three, and 
whenever a nut came down there was a wild 
“whoop !’’ and scramble to secure it. It was an 
amusing scene, but did not apeal to my sense 
of fair play. I ventured to hint this to some 
of the boys, but they only laughed at me. The 
idea of any one doubting their right to pilfer 
from the squirrels seemed to strike them as 
eminently absurd. Perhaps, indeed, they had a 
right. However, there was one feature of the 
case that was a little consoling. . The squirrels 
appeared to be enjoying themselves as well as 
the boys, for now and then they would stop in 
their wild career amid the branches and peer at 
the tumbling groups below with evident enjoy¬ 
ment. There is no doubt that there is a good 
deal of sympathy between the boy ond the 
squirrel. 
As I continued my stroll through the woods 
I observed an occasional collection of leaves 
high up in the fork of some tree. I knew this, 
of course, to be a squirrel’s nest in process of 
formation. Why do some squirrels build nests 
of this kind while others lodge in holes in trees? 
I have never seen the matter explained. I sup¬ 
pose it is because there are not holes enough 
to go round. At all events it is remarkable 
what a firm compact nest a squirrel makes. It 
will resist the fierc.est gales of winter, while the 
old nests of the birds are scattered in fragments 
abroad. I recently had an opportunity of in¬ 
specting a specimen of squirrel architecture 
among some felled timber on Long Island, 
where the real estate “improvers” are busy. 
First there was a sort of net work of twigs, 
some of which grew on the tree; through this 
was woven tough reeds and grasses and above 
were piled leaves and moss, but not loosely; 
each leaf had its stem inserted and was secured 
with moss. It was really like thatch. Inside 
the nest was lined with fine grass and feathers. 
Nothing could be neater. In that nest I be¬ 
lieve the owner, wrapped in his coat of fur, could 
have lain as snuggly -on the bitterest night as a 
baby in its cradle. 
Talking Qf nests, I may mention that some 
crows still build in the Bronx woods—in the 
upper end, where there is comparative solitude 
and the trees are thick and lofty, especially 
some old pines. These make admirable nesting 
sites. The black socialists, of course, continue 
to roost there during the winter. I have seen 
them returning home on many an evening when 
the sky was red and the country white with 
snow. They are not numerous now, though 
some years ago (or before the woods were 
made a public park) there was quite a colony 
of them. Soon there will not be one. 
There is a cleared spot in the woods here 
which I am persuaded was at one time the 
scene of an Indian encampment. The old 
Manna-hattas, or Manhattans (as they were 
called, though erroneously), could not have 
A BUMBLE BEE MAGNIFIED. 
Photo by A. H. Verrill. 
