Early in spring, as soon as the catkins of the willows are in flower, a large solitary female may be seen about them collecting honey and pollen. She is the only survivor of the former year’s colony, and is the foundress of a new one. Her first care on awaking from her winter’s sleep is to excavate a hollow in the earth for her nest, which is often above a foot under the surface, and is entered by a passage or gallery. When complete, she lines it with soft leaves, and then proceeds to make her waxen cells. This she does so quickly,[2] that she can build a cell, fill it with honey and pollen, deposit one or two eggs in it, and cover them in, in little more than half an hour. A number of these cells are thus constructed; the eggs are hatched, and the little worms, increasing rapidly in size, at last spin silken cocoons, and undergo the usual changes. The workers are the most numerous portion of the population, and have abundant employment throughout the summer. One of their first cares is to line the roof of their nest with wax, to keep it warm and prevent water from filtering through. The wax of these insects is not so delicate, white, firm, or fusible as that of the hive bee, nor is it applied to such exquisite architecture; it is brown and soft, but well adapted to the rude works of their nest. It is formed in wax-pockets similar to those of the hive bee, and is moulded in plates to the shape of the insect’s body. Unlike the queen of the hive, the foundress of this colony secretes wax, and does so even more abundantly than one of her workers. Footnote 2: The rapid formation of wax in the case of humble bees is very remarkable. Huber confined a number of them, and fed them during many days with pollen only; they produced no wax, constructed no cells, and laid no eggs; but on giving them honey, wax was produced in a few minutes, and the work of the colony proceeded.