British social wasps; an introduction to their anatomy and physiology, architecture and general natural history. With illustrations of the different species and their nests

Preface

Wasps have been my holiday companions for many years; and wasps and wasps’ nests have occupied much of the time which was forbidden to more serious employments. Beginning with an inquiry into the nature of wasp-paper, one question has led on to another, till the detached observations have insensibly grown into a continuous Natural History.

I feel that I may point with entire satisfaction to the figures of the several species, of the excellency and accuracy of which Mr. Robinson’s name is a gua¬ rantee to all Entomologists. And of the beautiful drawings of the nests, by my wife’s pencil, I am sure that there can be but one opinion, in accordance with my own. The wood-engravings and graphotypes want the perfect finish which can only be given by a practised hand, but I must plead that they convey my meaning more exactly than an artist working at a distance could have expressed.

If the mode in which these observations have been collected has impressed itself too strongly on the book; if it appear only too plainly that while pro¬ fessing to teach others I am but a learner myself; if the space devoted to the different topics seems to have been proportioned less to their actual import¬ ance than to the interest of the passing hour ; and

PREFACE.

iv

if wasps, instead of being the subject, seem sometimes the occasion of the discussion; I can only say that on such terms alone could I have written these pages. Only as an amusement, as each topic came freshly suggested by Nature at a leisure time, could the labour have ever been undertaken, and the idea persistently carried out.

I apprehend, however, no hard criticism to tell me that this book, with all its faults, to which 1 am keenly alive, should never have been written at all. If I have added anything to our common stock of knowledge, I shall be held excused for having told my story in my own way. And further, if, in so doing, I shall have given as much pleasure to others as I have myself received from such like books, my present contribution to Natural History will have fully answered its purpose.

Brighton,

Janumy, 1868.

Contents

PREFACE

Page

Chapter I.—INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. General observations on the study of wasps .. .. .. i

Early notices of wasps .. .. .. .. ,. .. 2

Confusion from imperfect distinction of species .. .. .. 6

Modem literature of the subject .. .. .. .. .. 7

Wasps’ nests, how to take and preserve .. .. .. .. 9

Wasps’ stings, how to treat.. .. .. .. ., ,. 12

Wasps, how to set and preserve .. .. .. .. .. 15

Method of dissecting insects .. .. .. .. .. 17

General considerations on their anatomy .. .. .. .. 19

Analogies of insect structure and life .. .. .. .. 20

Uses of wasps and insects generally .. .. .. ,, 21

Chapter II.—CLASSIFICATION AND DISTINCTION OF THE SPECIES

Hymenoptera, general characters and divisions of Wasps, how distinguished from other allied insects Divided into Solitary and Social Solitary group, represented in Britain by Odyneri:

Their general structure ..

Form and arrangement of their nests ..

Habits

Social group, represented in Britain by Vespa :

Their general characters..

Lesser varieties of form, size, and colour Specific distinctions, where to be looked for ..

Distinctive characters of :

V. Crabro, Plate I. ..

V. britwnnica , „ II.

30 32 34

CONTENTS.

vi

Page

V. sylvestris, Plate II. .. .. .. .. .. 41

Habits of the several species .. .. .. .. .. 49

The hornet, as mentioned in the Bible .. .. .. .. 50

Hornets abundant in Palestine and the East ., .. .. 52

And capable of doing great mischief .. .. .. .. 54

Pastor Muller’s hornets .. .. .. .. ., .. 56

Chapter III.—ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Limits and method of the prssent inquiry .. Tegtjmentary Skeleton :

Its general nature..

Development

Chemical composition and structure Connections and arrangement ,.

Head :

Eirst division of the insect body Eyes, simple and compound Their structure and functions..

Perfect adaptation is perfection of insect structure.. Eorm of the eyes in the Social and Solitary Groups Antenna, their structure..

And probable functions as organs of hearing Corona and Clypeus

Mouth, mandibulate, general arrangement of ..

Labrum, or upper lip Mandibles, or upper jaws..

Their structure and functions Labium, or lower lip

Its mentum, palpi, and ligula ..

Maxillae, or lower jaws ..

Basilar porti m, palpi, galea, and cardo Analogy of insect to vertebrate organs doubtful Mouth of wasp compared with that of other insects ..

Of the honey-bee Sense of smell, its probable seat

80 81

S3

CONTENTS. vii

Chaptee IY.—ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

Thoeax : Page

Second division of the insect body .. .. .. .. 88

Relation of its skeleton to tbe larval segments .. .. 89

Prothorax, its subdivisions .. .. .. .. .. 90

Its sternal aspect .. .. . 91

Metathorax, its subdivisions .. .. .. .. .. 92

Muscles of tbe thorax, voluntary and involuntary .. .. 94

Their general structure .. .. .. .. ,. .. 95

And arrangement .. .. .. .. .. .. 96

Their respiratory function .. .. .. .. .. 98

Salivary glands, their position .. .. .. .. .. 99

Structure and functions .. .. .. .. .. .. 100

Thobacic Appendages.

Legs, their general structure .. .. .. .. .. 103

Tarsi of wasp and honey-bee compared.. .. .. .. 104

Wings, arrangement of the nervures .. .. . .. 106

Structure of the wings .. .. .. .. .. .. 108

Hooklets and locking-gear in wasps .. .. .. .. 109

Direction of the movements of the wings .. .. .. 112

Mechanism of flight.. .. .. .. .. .. .. 113

Requisites of a flying-machine .. .. .. .. .. 114

Elements of the problem of flight .. 115

Passive :

Ratio of area of wings to weight .. .. .. .. 116

Influence of form and position .. .. .. .. 117

Active:

General principles of aerial propulsion .. .. .. 118

Upward pressure in horizontal flight .. .. .. 119

Direction of the blow of the wings .. .. .. 119

Strength required for flight .. .. .. .. .. 123

Chaptee Y.—ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Abdomen :

Third division of the insect body .. .. ., ,, 125

Its external figure .. .. .. .. .. .. 125

CONTENTS.

viii

Page

Tegumentary skeleton of abdomen, its development .. .. 126

And mode of construction .. .. .. .. .. 126

Muscles, general arrangement of .. .. .. .. 128

Respiratory System :

Physiological peculiarities of .. .. .. .. .. 129

Spiracles, abdominal, their structure in wasps.. .. .. 130

Thoracic spiracles . ... .. .. 133

Their functions, respiratory and vocal .. .. .. 136

Sounds produoed by insects in two ways :

Cause of the sound of humming in flies .. .. 138

Tracheae and air-vesicles, their arrangement .. .. .. 141

And secondary intentions .. ... .. .. .. 144

Organs op the Circulation :

Movements of the heart in the larva .. .. .. .. 145

Structure and distribution of the arterial system .. .. 146

Return of the blood by definite channels .. .. .. 148

Peculiarities of the circulation in insects .. .. .. 148

Nature of their blood .. .. .. .. .. .. 149

Nervous System :

Its general plan, structure .. .. .. .. .. 150

And physiological peculiarities .. .. .. .. 152

Insects, how far capable of pain .. .. .. .. 153

Chapter VI.—ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Digestive Organs :

Physiology of insect digestion .. .. .. ., .. 155

Eat masses, their structure .. .. .. ... ... 158

And general purpose .. .. .. .. .. 159

The source of bees-wax .. .. .. .. .. 160

Honey-making ? wasps .. .. ,. .. .. 161

The crop and oesophagus, their structure and function .. 163

Structure of the alimentary canal in general .. .. .. 164

Stomach, its structure and relations .. .. .. .. 165

Glandular system of insects .. .. .. .. .. 167

CONTENTS.

ix

Page

Length, of the alimentary canal .. .. .. .. .. 170

Repboductive system :

Correspondence of the structure of the organs in the two sexes.172

Male organs :

General structure and relations .. .. .. .. 172

Mode of dissection .. .. .. .. .. .. 174

Female organs :

Mode of dissection .. .. .. .. .. .. 175

Uterus or oviduct and its appendages .. .. .. 175

Compared with those of the honey-bee .. .. .. 178

Ovaries of the workers .. .. .. .. .. 178

Sting :

An attribute of the female sex .. .. .. .. 179

Mode of preparation ., .. .. .. .. 180

Structure in detail;— barbs, scabbard .. .. .. 180

Poison-bag and poison.. .. .. .. .. .. 181

Caudal palpi, their probable function .. ,. .. 183

Chapteb TIL—POEM AND MODE OE CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEST.

The Architecture typical of the speeies .. .. .. .. 185

Beginning of the nest .. .. .. .. .. .. 186

Its progressive enlargement .« .. .. .. .. 189

Mode of collecting the materials .. .. .. .. .. 191

Construction of the outer case .. .. .. .. .. 193

Observed by marking wasps .. .. .. .. .. 194

Interior arrangements .. .. .. .. .. .. 195

Extension of the combs .. .. .. .. .. .. 196

Mode of construction of the cells .. .. .. .. .. 198

Theoretical explanation of their hexagonal form ,. .. .. 200

Direction of the cells .. .. .. .. .. .. 202

Upper surface of the comb .. .. . . .. .. .. 202

CONTENTS.

Page

Wasp-paper:

The material adapted to the climate .. .. .. .. 205

Influence of season and position on the mode of construction 206 Limits to the extension .. .. .. .. .. .. 208

And duration of the nest .. .. .. .. .. 209

Specific distinctions of the several nests :

V. Crabro, Plates VI, YII .210

Ground-nests:

V. vulgaris, Plate VIII .. .. .. ,. .. 212

V. germanica, Plate IX .. .. .. .. ,. 213

V.rufa, Plate X .214

Tree-nests:

V. britamdca, Plates V (?), XI, XIII, XIV .. .. 215

V. sylvestris, Plates VI, XII .. .. .. .. 217

Chatteb VIII.—SOCIAL ECONOMY.

Commencement of the colony, oviposition . , «. .. 220

First larval period to first moulting .. .. .. .. 221

Second larval period ; movement to the end of the cell.. .. 222

Organs of larval locomotion .. .. .. .. .. 223

Structure of the caudal sucker .. .. .. .. .. 224

Mechanism of the larval movements .. .. .. .. 225

Formation of the cocoon .. .. .. .. .. .. 225

Exuviee of the larva .. .. .. .. .. .. 227

History of the larva of the honey-bee :

Difficulties of the inquiry .. .. .. .. .. 229

Nature of the deposit in the cell .. .. .. .. 229

The cocoon, its structure .. .. .. .. .. 230

Identity of the history of the bee- and wasp- larva.. .. 232

Evolution of the perfect wasp.233

Contents of the deserted cell . . .. .. .. .. 234

Length of the period of development of wasps .. .. .. 235

Difficulties of observations on larval wasps .. .. .. 236

CONTENTS.

xi

Page

Social life of wasps .. .. .. .. .. .. • • 239

Relation of the queen, wasp to the workers .. .. .. 240

Contrasted with that of the queen bee .. .. .. 240

Loss of the queen’s power of making paper.241

Appearance of the males and females .. .. .. 242

Dispersion of the colony .. .. .. .. .. 244

Physiological summary of the history of a swann .. .. 247

Domestic habits of wasps .. .. .. .. ,. .. 250

Of cleaning the nest .. .. .. .. .. .. 252

Wasps incapable of combined efforts like ants.. .. .. 253

Diseases to which wasps are liable.. .. .. .. .. 255

Chapteb IX.—EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRIES.

Results of the removal of the nest with the queen .. .. 257

Reconstruction of the nest:

Plan of the new structure .. .. .. .. .. 258

Succession of nests .. .. .. .. .. .. 259

Division of the swarm .. .. .. .. .. .. 260

Artificial direction of their labours .. .. .. .. 261

Effects of the loss of the queen wasp and queen bee compared .. 262

Principle of Parthenogenesis .. .. .. .. .. 263

Explanatory of these effects .. .. .. .. .. 264

Details of experiments on nests without queens .. .. .. 265

Observation of a nest with only drone brood .. .. .. 268

General conclusions .. .. .. .. .. .. 269

EXPLANATION OE THE PLATES.

Plates I—IV. Eigures of the several species.

Plates V—XIV. Drawings of the nests.

Plate XI. To face title.

NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. LITERATORE OF THE SUBJECT. METHOD OF TAKING AND PRESERVING WASPS AND THEIR NESTS. USB OF WASPS AND INSECTS GENERALLY.

It is only those who have learned to love wasps as some naturalists love bees who will be at the pains to understand them; who will watch by a nest and learn from the movements of the insects what is going on inside, or will share their study window with a colony v of wasps in active work. As far as concerns the profit which is urged as a reasonable pretext for loving bees, I suspect that, if the truth were known, most amateur bee-keepers would agree in the conclusion that the gains accruing from wax or honey are purely imaginary, and that bee-keep¬ ing and wasp-keeping are about on a par in that respect. As a scientific pursuit the study of wasps is not sin-passed in interest by that of bees; both alike have their peculiar difficulties and facilities, and in both alike nature only reveals her secrets to the close and patient observer.

NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS.

There is no danger in closely observing wasps and their nests, if we only use a little caution and dis¬ cretion. It is better not to approach a nest too near on a windy day, or in a hot sun, which always quickens their energies, just

And we must always look out very carefully for crawling wasps, too weak to fly but not at all too weak to sting, before taking up our post of obser¬ vation. But wasps at work are generally far too busy to molest any one who does not molest them; and, unlike honey-bees, they do not seem to have any personal antipathies. In some respects they are less open to observation than bees, for they will not work except in houses of their own making, and their first care is to surround the comb by a paper case, impervious to light, or at least to sight. But they are more easily subjected to experiment. For they will work in smaller swarms than bees, and even without a queen; and the affection which binds them to their nest, or to the place where their nest was built, gives us greater facilities of investigating their social economy.

Wasps, to begin at the beginning, have not been found in a fossil state.f The Hymenoptera are well represented among the insects found in amber, but no wasps occur among them. The calcareous marl in the gypsum beds in different places contains remains

* Pope’s ' Essay on Man/ Ep. II, v. 148.

+ Burmeister, ‘Manual of Entomology, translated by Shuckard,’ pp. 577—580.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

of Hymenoptera, but no Yespse, only some Polistes have been found there. Though they have left no pre-historic remains, wasps found a place in literature early. It does not appear, however, that they were at any time regarded with different feelings to those which are generally entertained towards them in the nineteenth century. They have always been looked upon as the petty impersonation of every thing actively annoying and disagreeable. Homer * draws them, with one of his touches of nature, as beautiful and as restless then as now, the same in all their habits, unchanged during more than 3,000 years. He makes Asius, rushing out from Troy, and chafing with vexation because the enemy will not come out to meet him when he wants, compare the Greeks to wasps guarding their nests. And though the hero does give the dignified title of huntsmen to the takers of wasps’ nests, we must understand this compliment as half intended for himself under the circumstances. The author of the mock heroic Battle of the Frogs and Mice,| does not give hornets, as Parnell has rendered it, but gnats, iccovcoTres, the honour of sounding the trumpet for battle. Aris¬ tophanes J lashes under the name and guise of wasps the Dicasts of his day, who fostered litigation, and lived at the public expense on the quarrels which they made. He terms wasps the most irascible and peevish of all creatures; and their want of a sting cannot purchase a word of favour for the drones. For these are guilty of the yet graver offence of living in idleness on the ill-gotten gains of the rest

X Wasps, v. 1104.

t Book III, v. 5.

B 2

NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS.

of the horde.* The man who misjudged Socrates as a Sophist could scarcely deign to understand a wasp. Again,f when Poverty enumerates the physical ad¬ vantages which her votaries have over those of wealth, and mentions wasp-like (or as we might render it straight, or strait, with a double meaning) among their other happy qualifications, this attribute at once turns the tables against her. Chremylus winces at this, and suggests that hunger is the cause of the undesirable result. But, in short, no one has a civil word for them, and the choice of epithets which are offered in the Gradus to those who wish to write verses about them are so vituperative that one feels gratified, under the circumstances, that wasps have never become a favourite theme with either poets or poetasters.

Yet there was no want of knowledge on the subject, and in the first systematic Natural History which has come down to our times, that which Aristotle % put forth, the observations on wasps compare favourably with those on many other animals quite as familiarly known. He was aware that the colony originated from a single wasp which survived the winter, and that the nest was, in the first instance, the sole work of this insect. He knew that the cells were made larger, as the season advanced, for the mother-wasps, which were then produced; and that

* So Virgil, * Georgies/ IV, 244, of the drone-bee :—

$ ‘ History of Animals,’ published about 330 b.c. I have referred to Cresswell’s translation, 1862, both as more generally accessible than the original, and as supplying, in the valuable notes and index, a help which every student will appreciate.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

the labour of building was at this time delegated to the workers. The chief difficulty in following his account seems to arise from his not having suffi¬ ciently distinguished the species. His meaning is generally clear enough with regard to the social economy of the acjirjfces, but when we get to the avdprjvcu * all is confusion, and it is not clear whether it is always the same insect which is thus desig¬ nated.

Wasps and their ways have a place, though not of honour, in various works. The fabulous legend of St. Yeronicaf makes her cure Yespasian of a wasp’s nest in his nose by the sight of her miraculous cloth: this inconsistent silly story having been evidently concocted in forgetfulness that in Yespasian’s time, whose name the story was made to fit, vespa was not the familiar word for a wasp. Coming nearer to our own times and country, we find Olaus Magnus,:{: of Sweden, in the 16th century, devoting a chapter or more of his ‘Natural History of the Northern Nations’ to them. He slides gradually into their description from that of stag-beetles, and so on, by a transition which seems to him equally natural, into that of snakes.

The general classification is strange enough; but the division into large and small wasps, and the few touches of description are true to nature. Mallow

* Op. cit. Book Y, Chap. 20. Book IX, Chaps. 27, 28.

+ Mrs. Jameson, ‘History of our Lord, as exemplified in Works of Art,’ Vol. I, p. 41, referring to an illustrated MS. in the Ambrosian Library at Milan.

NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS.

leaves were the approved remedy for wasp-stings in his time, and he tells ns that hornets, the large orange-yellow wasps, were called Boolgetingh in the Gothic language.

Wasps and hornets have never wanted names in our islands. Lhuyd* gives hakhjnen for the Welsh name, chuilkiores and guihim for the Cornish, and eirkveach for the Irish, while the Armorican guezpeden and guezpel show that the late Latin vespa, which has since been so widely adopted, was already creeping into use. The epithets! familiarly applied to wasps and hornets in the Welsh language, such as yellow¬ tailed, carpenter, singer, might seem to denote that the Welsh took a great interest in the insects whose characteristics they thus stereotyped. But Welsh scholars assure me that they are not favourite subjects of allusion in the Triads, and that the form of the language, not affection, dictated the mode of expression.

Ordinary observation, as far as this went, was correct enough; but when any thing more is attempted, where any description of habits occurs, the want of a proper distinction of species becomes apparent, resulting in the strangest contradictions. The same confusion which makes many of Aristotle’s remarks unintelligible prevails, and even to a greater degree, with the accumulation of additional observa¬ tions, in all the subsequent histories of wasps, till quite a recent period: even Reaumur’s! great work

* Lhuyd, ‘ Archseologia Britannica.’ Folio 1707.

+ Owen’s ‘Welsh and English Dictionary.’ 2 vols. 4to. London, 1803.

X ' Memoires pour servir a l’Histoire des Insectes.’ Tome VI. I

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

does not wholly escape its influence. Among the precious remains of Hunter’s manuscripts,* which were saved from the flames, are two papers on the ‘ Economy of Hornets and Wasps,’ to which, as well as to his ‘ Observations on Bees,’ there will be frequent occasion to refer. It is remarkable how this great man’s habits of accurate observation, and of not inferring beyond legitimate grounds, have produced Essays, which, examined by the light of all that has been learned since his time, still appear—to my prejudiced mind perhaps—almost faultless.

However, ample justice has been done to wasps at last. The clue to all the seeming irregularities in the proceedings of an insect usually working by fixed unchanging rules was suspected to exist in a want of proper discrimination of the several species. And this source of error has been finally removed by the labours of Mr. F. Smith,f who has condensed into the space of a few pages the description of the specific characters of the British Social Wasps, and after so many years has realized Latreille’sJ wish for another Kirby to clear up the Natural History of the Wasp Family.

The literature of wasps is not large. Hagen, §

regret much that I have not this work now accessible, to correct and enlarge my references to its charming pages.

* Hunter. ‘ Posthumous Works by Owen.’ Yol. I. On the Eco¬ nomy of Hornets and Wasps.

t Smith. ‘ Catalogue of British Possorial Hymenoptera, Formicidse, and Vespidae, in the Collection of the British Museum.' London, 1858, pp. 211—222.

X Westwood. 1 Introduction to the Modern Classification of Insects.’ Vol. II, p. 248.

§ Hagen. ' Bibliotheca Entomological II Band. 8vo. Leipzig, 1862 -63.

NATURAL HISTORY OP WASPS.

in his wonderfully learned Index, for which ento¬ mologists can scarcely thank him enough, gives a list of scarcely more than fifty writers on this branch of Entomology, the greater part of whose works on this subject consist of papers contained in journals or transactions of societies. To several of these authors it will be sufficient to refer from time to time; but there are others whose works have been so constantly in my hands that I could not adequately express my oligations to them by such occasional citations. Of these, I subjoin a list:—

Burmeister. ‘ Manual of Entomology,’ translated by Shuckard. 8vo. London. 1836.

De Saussure ‘Etudes sur la Famille des Yespides.’

3 tomes. 8vo. Geneve et Paris. 1852-58. Hunter. ‘ Observations on Bees.’ Collected Works.

Yol. IY. 8vo. London. 1837.

Kirby and Spence. ‘Introduction to Entomology.’

7th edition. Small 8vo. London. 1856. Newport. ‘Insecta, Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology.’ Yol. II. Roy. 8vo. London. 1836-39.

Smith. ‘Catalogue of British Fossorial Hymenoptera, Formicidae, and Yespidae in the British Museum.’ 12mo. London. 1858.

Westwood. ‘ Introduction to the Modern Classifica¬ tion of Insects.’ 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1839-40. Westwood. 4 Entomologists’ Text-Book.’ 12mo. London. 1838.

Wood. ‘Homes without Hands.’ 8vo. London. 1866.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Wasps are not to be studied from a distance only, like the stars. It may be necessary very frequently to come to closer quarters. And though much may be done by tact and discretion, there is no way of preventing them getting angry and attacking the offender, when such a very extreme measure as taking their nest is resorted to. Wasps, as we shall see, will bear many things, but they would not be wasps to stand this. So, as it may be necessary to take their nests occasionally, it is as well to consider how it may best be done. If we do not want our labour to be wasted, we should survey the nest care¬ fully, and ascertain the direction of all the roots and branches which support or traverse the fabric before we set to work. We must take care that there are all the proper tools handy. And we should bear in mind that without great caution we may carry away very unpleasant, if not serious, reminiscences of a holiday, in a swelled arm or face, and be well laughed at besides.

There are various ways of taking wasps’ nests, all more or less exciting, dirty, and dangerous. All these elements of enjoyment must have met in the highest perfection in the mode of procedure which Euripides* leads us to infer was in vogue with Young Athens in his days. The Chorus, under the guidance of Ulysses, propose to poke out the Cyclops’ single eye with a firebrand of appropriate dimensions, in the same way as they have been used to operate on wasps’ nests. Now, although in the prospect of this somewhat ticklish operation of belling the cat, of which they have very disagreeable anticipations, the * ‘ Cyclops/v. 475.

NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS.

classical Chorus speak confidently of what they have done in the smaller way, and exhort each other to go in and win accordingly, yet we cannot doubt that the modern invention of gunpowder has given the attack¬ ing party great advantages. And the classical torch could not have been nearly so safe or effectual as the squib which Young England brings into the field.

Where the object is simply to destroy the swarm, as completely as possible, and with the least trouble, this is best effected by pouring a little tar into the entrance in such a way that each wasp as she comes in or goes out shall get a smear on her legs and wings. Nothing more is seen of the swarm after this operation has been well performed ; and in a few days the nest may be dug out, with the certainty of finding not a single living wasp in it. This plan, however, is almost exclusively applicable to ground-nests, where there is a surface to be tarred over which the wasps must walk. For the tree-nests, after all, the ancient firebrand or its modern sub¬ stitutes are the best instruments of destruction when only green leaves and no hay-ricks are near, and the nest is not wanted for a specimen. But when we wish to preserve the nest we must proceed in another way, and the best, indeed the only way, is to cut it down or dig it out, taking care neither to injure the delicate structure, nor let ourselves be injured during what may be a very lengthened operation. Mr Wood* mentions a hornets’ nest which took six hours’ continuous labour to cut out of a tree.

For this purpose a pair of strong gloves are wanted, with short sleeves sewn to the tops to tie round the * ‘ Homes without Hands,’ p. 439.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

arms below the elbows. The trousers should be tied over the ankles to prevent crawling wasps gaining access that way, and it is better that these should not have been worn thin in parts, nor be of the lightest summer material. A wide-brimmed hat; a strong net veil, sewn together down the back and the lower edge tucked carefully under the coat collar; and a handkerchief packed under the chin, make the armour complete. The veil should not be so loose or light as to be readily blown against the nose or ears, for such points of contact will be immediately pounced upon by the angry swarm. I have found these precautions quite sufficient for the safe capture of any wasps’ nest. I never had an opportunity of taking a hornets’ nest, but I should be inclined in such case to proportion the thickness of myclothing to the length of their stings, and would put on a good substantial suit of fustian for the occasion.