

CH. V.] 



THE UPHOLSTERER-BEE. 



99 



1 The cell before the egg is deposited within ; it is lined the whole 



length with the leaf of the red poppy. 

 2. The red poppy lining depressed. 



one egg is deposited in it, with a quantity of honey 

 and pollen, or bee-bread, piled up an inch high ; the 

 lining' of the two upper inches of the hole is then 

 thrust down, and pressed on the mass, so as to form 

 a sort of cork ; and, to complete the work, the bee 

 shovels in the earth which had been dug out, so 

 neatly, that Reaumur was puzzled to make out what 

 had become of the nest he had seen only a short time 

 before. It would appear that all this labour is re- 

 quired to form one cell and to receive one egg; 

 doubtlessly there are others, but the same vicinity is 

 not chosen by the same insect for the rest of its off- 

 spring ; the nature of the ground, probably, decides 

 the location, for it must be dry, otherwise the crim- 

 son leaves and the honey become putrid, and the lit- 

 tle inhabitant, instead of a cradle, finds a tomb. 



