I Think There Were Four Species Of Wild Bee At These Early
Flowers, Including The Great Bombus And The Small Prosopis With
Orange-Yellow Head.
It is difficult to scientifically identify small
insects hastily flitting without capturing them, which I object to doing,
for I dislike to interfere with their harmless liberty.
They have all
been named and classified, and I consider it a great cruelty to destroy
them again without special purpose. The pleasure is to see them alive and
busy with their works, and not to keep them in a cabinet. These wild
bees, particularly the smaller ones, greatly resented my watching them,
just the same as birds do. If I walked by they took no heed; if I stopped
or stooped to get a better view they were off instantly. Without doubt
they see you, and have some idea of the meaning of your various motions.
The wild bees are a constant source of interest, much more so than the
hive bee, which is so extremely regular in its ways. With an explosion
almost like a little bomb shot out of a flower; with an immense hum,
almost startling, boom! the great bombus hurls himself up in the air from
under foot; well named - boom - bombus. Is it correct or is it only a
generalisation, that insects like ants and hive bees, who live in great
and well-organised societies, are more free from the attacks of parasites
than the comparatively solitary wild bees? Ants are, indeed, troubled
with some parasites, but these do not seem to multiply very greatly, and
do not seriously injure the populousness of the nest.
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