HYMENOPTERA 



1001 



Many bees make their cells of a cement-like substance made of a 

 mixture of earth and some fluid which is believed to be secreted by 

 the salivary glands. These bees are commonly known as the mason- 

 bees. 



The fimi-cement-like nature of the nests of some of the mason- 

 bees leads to the belief that the earth of which they are made is mixed 

 with some other fluid than water. They are much firmer than are 

 the tubes built by Anthophora, which are made of a mixture of earth 

 and water. 



A remarkable accumulation of the nests of an Old World species 

 of mason-bee, known as the wall-bee, Chalicodoma murdria, was ob- 



Fig. 1225. — Nests of the wall-bee on the Temple of Dendera. 



served by the writer on the walls of the Temple of Dendera in 

 Egypt. This temple, which was buried by drifting sands long ago 

 has been excavated by modern archaeologists; but the inscriptions 

 on the walls of the temple are being rapidly buried again beneath a 

 layer of the cement-like nests of the wall-bee (Fig. 1225). 



Family BOMBID^ 

 The Bumblebees 



The family Bombidas includes the well-known nest-building 

 bimiblebees and certain parasitic biraiblebees, Pstthyrus, that infest 

 ilie nests of the nest-building species. The members of this family 



