CARPENTER-BEES, 



47 



Cells of Carpenter-Bets, excavated'in an old post.— In fig.A the 

 cells contain the young grubs ; in fig. B the cells are empty. Botii 

 figures are shown in section, and about half the natural size. 



Some days after it was finished, we cut into the 

 post, and exposed this nest to view. It consisted of 

 six cells of a somewhat square shape, the wood 

 forming the lateral walls ; and each was separated 

 from the one adjacent by a partition of clay, of the 

 thickness of a playing card. The wood was not 

 lined with any extraneous substance, but was worked 

 as smooth as if it had been chiselled by a joiner. 

 There were five cells, arranged in a very singular 

 manner — two being almost horizontal, two perpendi- 

 cular, and one oblique. 



The depth to which the wood was excavated, in 

 this instance, was considerably less than what we 

 have observed in other species which dig perpendi- 

 cular galleries several inches deep in posts and gar- 

 den-seats ; and they are inferior in ingenuity to the 

 carpentry of a bee described by Reaumur {Xijlocopa 

 violacea)^ which has not been ascertained to be a 

 native of Britain, though a single indigenous species 

 of the genus has been doubtingly mentioned, and m 



