Artificial direction of their labours Effects of the loss of the queen wasp and queen bee compared.. NATURAL HISTORY OF WASPS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. METHOD OF TAKING AND PRESERVING WASPS AND THEIR NESTS. USE 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 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-keeping and wasp-keeping are about on a par in that respect. As a scientific pursuit the study of wasps is not surpassed 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. B |