My dear Innes

The case of the bees not entering the bottles seems very curious, & I will mention it to Lubbock, who is by far the best judge & observer of the minds of insects now living in the world.¹ Wasps have been as extraordinarily rare here, as they appear to have been common with you.— The criticism about the hexagons made by queen wasps is a very good one:² I well remember thinking over this case, & how I wriggled out of the difficulty, I cannot remember. I do not believe that I was so dishonest as not to notice it: at least if I did do so, it was momentary forgetfulness, as I collected wasps & hornets’ nests & studied the different kinds of nests in the B. Museum, & knew well that the Queen commenced her comb, all by herself.—³ There is really not a scrap of news to tell you. Poor M^rs Parslow is dead & she is a great loss to the village, as she was wonderfully kind to any sick & poor person.—⁴

I go on working in my usual manner & do what I can. I have occasionally attended for many years to the habits of worms, & next month a little book on them by me will be published, & as some parts may possibly interest you (for you ought to have been a regular naturalist) I will send you a copy as soon as it is published.—⁵

My brother, Erasmus, whom you may in old times have seen here, has lately died; & I am glad to say that his last illness was very short & without any severe suffering.⁶

Farewell my dear Innes | yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

I see that I have forgotten to take black-edged paper.