CH. v.] THE MASON-BEE ^1 



or ^ubs, are placed with their heads downwards, 

 so that, as the first effort to walk is forwards, their 

 progress is not towards the superior cells. The 

 mother-bee makes a hole at the bottom of the tube 

 communicatino- with the lowest cell, and through 

 this opening- the inhabitant comes out. When the 

 food in the cell next above is consumed, its tenant 

 gnaws away its under partition, and then, through 

 the cell which has been just vacated, finds the way- 

 clear to the outlet made by the mother. Hence it 

 appears, that all the young come out through this 

 back door, which is provided for them by their 

 anxious parent. 



Natural history, abounding as it does in the most 

 interesting facts, presents few things more striking 

 than the industry of this insect. Consider its la- 

 bour — boring out a tunnel fifteen or twenty times 

 its own height ; descending and then ascending to 

 carry off the sawdust, and then, after havmg cleaned 

 out the tube thoroughly, returning to this heap of 

 sawdust, and collecting, grain by grain, a sufficient 

 quantity to partition off the number of nurseries 

 which its young may require. 



Lumps of mortar may frequently be seen stuck 

 against a garden-wall, exposed to the sun ; when- 

 ever an attempt happens to be made to remove 

 them, they will be found to resist the impression of 

 the strongest knife. These have not been formed 

 by a careless bricklayer, who may have left a dab 

 of his material to disfigure the wall. Each lump is 

 the work of care, and constitutes the habitation of 

 the m.ason-hee. One of these lumps, when de- 

 tached from the wall, will be found to contain eight 

 or ten cavities, in each of which is deposited a larva 

 with its supply of food. At first sight these cells 

 might be imagined simply bored in the lump ; and 

 truly, in giving solidity to its workmanship, this bee 

 may, indeed, be said to conceal the skill which it 

 has exercised 



