EGGS OF THE SOLITARY BEE. 51 



in these singular perforations. It is obvious, 

 if the eggs were laid in the midst of the liquid 

 honey, that they would either be prevented from 

 hatching, or the grub would be suffocated in the first 

 stai;e of its existeTice. Every chamber of the 

 little nest is so full of honey, that it is difficult to 

 divine how this is to be avoided, and it was only 

 after repeated and anxious researches that we found 

 a solution of the difficulty. It is this : the mother- 

 bee, when she has filled a chamber with honey, glues 

 a single egg, a hair's breadth or two above its sur- 

 face, and at a similar minute distance she stretches 

 the membranous partition, leaving between this and 

 the surface of the honey just sufficient space, and no 

 more, for the newly hatched grub to crawl all round. 

 On opening one of these perforations after the grub 

 had been some time hatched, we found it keeping 

 aloof from the honey, and resting on the upper 

 margin, from which it seemed to have stretched its 

 head, when feeding, to the centre, instead of eating at 

 the circumference. The honey was also then be- 

 come thicker in consistence, and in consequence of 

 what had been consumed, formed a hollow cup*. 



Remimur describes the nest of a bee of the 

 same family {Andrena cineraria, Fabr.), which is 

 found in the neighbourhood of London, and differs 

 from the preceding in making perforations, not in 

 trees, but in the ground, and lining these with the 

 membranaceous substance that composes the parti- 

 tions and the outer covering. He takes no notice, 

 however, of the prospective ingenuity with which 

 the eg:g is placed above the surface of the fluid 

 honey t. 



The various species of nests thus prepared by the 

 parent insects for depositing their eggs, are not 

 merely intended for holding provisions and shel 

 * J R. t Reaumur^ Mem., vol. vi. p. 131. 



