The neuters of all the species are very variable hi size, but in this there appears to be the greatest extreme; we have specimens which are scarcely as large as the common hive-bee.
B. lfortorum, black. Thorax with the anterior and posterior portions yellow ; abdomen with the base yellow ; rather less than the preceding species.
B. Tunstallanua (female), black. Thorax with the anterior and posterior margins narrowly edged with yellow.
The insect described by Kirby under the name of Lutreillella has lately been discovered by Mr. Pickering to be the male of this species. It is of a pale yellow colour, with the central portion of the thorax and two indistinct fascia) towards the base of the abdomen black.
B. Jonellua (male), yellow. Thorax and abdomen each with a black fascia.
B. lueorum (male), yellow. Thorax with the central portion black; abdomen with the two,basal segments yellow, and the two following black, the remainder white.
Section III. Ground-Colour of the Body yellow or buff.
B. 3! imcorum, yellow. Thorax orange.
B. itoralia yellow. Abdomen with a black spot on each side of the second segment, the three following segments with their bases black.
B. Beckwandlua, 'pale buff colour. Thorax and apex of the abdomen reddish yellow, the latter with a black fascia in the middle.
B. Curtisellus. Like the last, but the abdomen is black, with the base of reddish-yellow.
B. Foaterdlua. Thorax buff coloured, with the anterior part blackish; abdomen with three obscure black fasciae.
(Observation.—We have reason to believe the last four to be varieties of the same species) B. S ylea rum, yellowish-white. Thorax with a black fascin; abdomen with two black fascia'; the apex red interspersed with white.
P. pogroms, bright yellow. Thom: with n black fascia.
Of the above species, B. terrestris and Lapidarial are the largest. B. fragrant, Tunatallanna, and Hortorum, are the next in size. All the rust of the species are nearly of a size, with the exception of B. Pratorum.
The habits and economy of these insects are not less interesting than other members of the order Hymenoptera.
In the autumnal mouths, when the cold weather begins to be felt, and the various honeyliehling flowers disappear, the male and neuter Humble-Bees die, having performed their allotted task, which as far as we can discover, appears to be that of fecundating certain plant., by conveying the pollen from the male to the femisle flowers: task which is unavoidably accomplished by their visiting different flowers for the purpose of collecting honey end pollen to rear their young. Some female Humble-Bees also die, whereas others (probably these only which had been reared in the previous slimmer) eeek a con venient spot in which they may pass the winter as little exposed to the cold as possible ; sometimes in rotten wood of old pollard trees, and (sometimes in 1110M, or among dead leaves, or in fact in almost any aituation which will afford the desired protection. Here they remain in a torpid state and without food. The warmth of the spring causes these females again to make their appearance, and having been impregnated the previous autumn, they seek a convenient spot wherein they may construct their nests. Grassy banks are the local ties most frequently chosen for this purpose, but various situation"( and even a difference of soil apparently, are selected by the different species of llumble-Beses; for we °beery() certain species abounding more in one situation than another, and that in places distant from each other but similar in character. The nests are sometimes built upon the ground, but most generally they are in a hole excavated by the bee. These excavations vary in depth and form, even though made by the same species of bee. In their construction the animal uses its jaws to dislodge the particles of earth, which are then, by means of the anterior pair of lege, passed backwards to the hinder pair, which perform the same office : but as the burrow becomes deeper, the whole body of the bee is used to eject the grains of soiL In saying that the Humble-Bees form the burrows in the ground in which we find them, we speak upon the authority of It6aninur, for although we have frequently observed the female bee commence removing particles of earth, apparently with inteut to make such an excavation, upon returning to the same spots after a sufficient interval of time, the work was always abandoned. Huber, who paid much
attention to these insects, says, "I have not discovered in what manner they excavate the holes which lead to their nests, nor do I know how they form the vaults in which they are placed, neither am I aware whether they always construct these vaults themselves, or whether they do not sometimes avail themselves of the holes made by moles or other animals." Upon consulting some other authors, these points appear to be treated of in too vague a manner. When a small cylindrical but generally tortuous gallery is formed, it is terminated by an arched chamber of considerable extent, and it is in this cham ber that the nest is constructed. Those species which do not burrow in the ground choose a situation in which the herbage is sufficiently thick to afford shelter, and there form on the surface of the ground an arched chamber of moss thickly matted together. In what manner the female first commences the interior arrangement of her neat, and how she brings up her young whilst in her solitary state, Huber and some of the earlier authors did not ascertain. We are indebted to M. le Comte Saint-Fargoau for this portion of the present history. This author informs us that having collected a quantity of pollen and honey, these substances are formed by the female humble-bee into a ball, in which the eggs are deposited, eo that when the eggs are hatched the larva' are surrounded by the substance, which serves them both for food and protection. The balls generally contain numerous eggs, and consequently when these are hatched numerous larva'. 116aumur found them to vary from three to thirty. Each larva feeding upon the food nearest to it, the original crust of their enclosure becomes thin, and the parent insect then takes care to add fresh alimentary paste to the weakest parts. When the larva) are full grown each one ineloses itself in a silken cocoon of an oval form and placed always in a perpendicular position. A certain number of neuters, or workers, having undergone their final transformation, the nest is enlarged, and an inner coating of wax is attached to it, and in those nests which are constructed with moss the particles of wax are so amalgamated with it that a portion of the moss cannot be removed without injuring the interior more or less. Wax is also used by the workers in the construction of little cells for the reception of honey. Each species of Humble-Bee makes these cells, as Huber . informs us, hi a different manner ; some construct them on the top of the cocoons, and of a half oval form ; others build them of an egg shape, with the apex truncated. In some again they resemble the first, but have a ring of wax within the top. The next variety is almost a perfect oval, having but a small opening at the apex. Lastly, these Humble-Bees show, says Huber, "that they are not inferior to the hive-bee in the art of economT. Between four honey pots there would necessarily be a vacant space; but this is occupied by a reservoir, which is nut of the same form as those by which it is surrounded, but sometimes approaches to a square," &c. As an instance of the intelligence of -these bees, 'tuber relates that when a bee is prevented from obtaining the honey at the bottom of the flower by the tube of the corolla being too narrow And deep, they drill a hole with their proboscis through the calyx and corolla right into the tubeeand in this manner tap the vessel containing the liquid of which they are so fond.