vi] LONG-POINTED-TONGUED BEES 81 



though she is ready enough to avail herself of one 

 that has been tenanted the previous year : and 

 similarly when the nest is subterranean, the bee 

 will make use of a disused worm-burrow or will, if 

 necessary, drive a new tunnel for herself. So far 

 as I have observed, the burrows whether in earth 

 or wood are never straight, and always have an 

 upward inclination ; or, if winding and at first slightly 

 downwards, then there is a sharp upward bend near 

 the entrance. This arrangement prevents rain from 

 soaking the burrow in its brood portion. The cells 

 constructed by these bees resemble little thimbles 

 in shape, and are wonderful works of art. They are 

 composed entirely of pieces of leaves or of petals 

 slightly glued together by a waxy excretion produced 

 by the bee herself. Each piece appears to be cut 

 with a special view to the particular place which it 

 is destined to occupy in the completed cell. The side 

 pieces are of a rounded oblong shape, and their size 

 is gradually decreased both in width and length as 

 layer after layer is added within those which actually 

 touch the walls of the burrow. In a specimen taken 

 from the nest of M. circumcincta I find twelve such 

 side pieces; the dimensions of the innermost are 

 0'60 inch x 0'32 inch; of the sixth from the inside, 

 0'65 inch x 0'35 inch ; of the outermost, 0*80 inch x 

 0*40 inch. All these pieces include a portion of the 

 naturally serrated edge of the rose-leaf, a provision 



L. B. W. 6 



