Outdoor Visits  by Edith M. Patch

Some Insects in Winter

§ 1. Sleepy Bumblebees

One December day Don and Nan ran in the snow in the park. They talked about the trees and bushes.

They stopped to look at one bush and Nan said, "Do you remember this rose bush? It had lovely pink flowers in summer. The bumble-bees came here for pollen. We liked to hear their humming wings."

"We will ask our uncle about bumblebees in winter," said Don.

"In the late summer," said Uncle Tom, "the youngest Mother Bumblebees go to flowers for nectar. They drink as much as they can. After a time they seem to feel sleepy.

"Then each very young Mother Bumblebee finds a good dry place and digs a hole in the ground.

"This small dry hole is her winter sleeping room. She stays there alone until spring comes."


[Illustration]

"I know what she does in spring," said Don. "She hunts for a good hole big enough for a summer home."

"Yes," said Nan, "and then she makes bee bread of pollen and honey. And at last she begins to lay eggs."