22 



THE HOME OF THE BEES. 



18. Female Stylops. 



inch a day. I don't think myself she bores more than one-half 



inch, if she does that. If I mistake not, it takes her about two 



days to make her own length at 

 the lirst start; but this being 

 across the grain of the wood, 

 may not be so easily done as the 

 remainder, which runs parallel 

 with it. She always follows the 

 grain of the wood, witli the ex- 

 ception of the entrance, which 

 is about lier own length. The 

 tunnels run from one to one and 

 a half feet in length. They gen- 

 erally run in opposite directions 

 from the opening, and sometimes 

 other galleries are run, one di- 

 rectly above the other, using the 

 same opening. I thinkthey only 

 make new tunnels when old ones 



are not to be found, and that the same tunnels are used for many 



years. Some of the old tunnels are very wide. I have found 



parts of them nbont an inch in diameter. I think thi^ is caused 



by rasping off the sides to procure the necessary material for 



constructing their cells. The partitions are composed of wood 



raspings, and some sticky fluid, probably saliva, to make them 



adhere. 



" The tunnels are sometimes taken possession of by other bees 



and wasps. I think when this is the case, the Xylocopa prefers 



making a new cell, to cleaning 



out the dirt and rubbish of the 



other species. I frequently find 



these bees remaining for a long 



time on the wing close to the 



opening, and bobbing their 



heads against the side, as if 



fanning air into the opening. I 



have seen them thus employed 



for twenty minutes. Whether 



one bee or more makes the tun- ^^- Carpenter Bee. 



nel, that is, whether they take turns in boring, I cannot at 



present say. In opening the cells (Fig. 21), more than one are 



