THE OSMIiE 251 



but I am also better-equipped. My apparatus consists 

 of two small closed packing-cases, with the front side 

 of each pierced with forty holes, in which I can insert 

 my glass tubes and keep them in a horizontal position. 

 I thus obtain for the Bees the darkness and mystery 

 which suit their work and for myself the power of with- 

 drawing from my hive, at any time, any tube that I wish, 

 with the Osmia inside, so as to carry it to the light and 

 follow, if need be with the aid of the lens, the operations 

 of the busy worker. My investigations, however fre- 

 quent and minute. In no way hinder the peaceable Bee, 

 who remains absorbed in her maternal duties. 



I mark a plentiful number of my guests with a variety 

 of dots on the thorax, which enables me to follow any 

 one Osmia from the beginning to the end of her laying. 

 The tubes and their respective holes are numbered; a 

 list, always lying open on my desk, enables me to note 

 from day to day, sometimes from hour to hour, what 

 happens in each tube and particularly the actions of the 

 Osmiae whose backs bear distinguishing marks. As soon 

 as one tube is filled, I replace it by another. Moreover, 

 I have scattered in front of either hive a few handfuls 

 of em-pty Snail-shells, specially chosen for the object 

 which I have in view. Reasons which I will explain later 

 led me to prefer the shells of Helix cccspitum. Each of 

 the shells, as and when stocked, received the date of the 

 laying and the alphabetical sign corresponding with the 

 Osmia to whom It belonged. In this way, I spent five 

 or six weeks In continual observation. To succeed in an 

 inquiry, the first and foremost condition is patience. 



