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CHAPTER III. 



CARPENTER-BEES ; CARPEXTER- WASPS ; UPHOLSTERELl-BEES. 

 Carpenter-Bees. 



Among the solitary bees are several British species, which 

 come under that class called carpenter-bees by M. Reaumur, 

 from the circumstance of their working in wood, as the 

 mason-bees work in stone. We have frequently witnessed 

 the operations of these ingenious little workers, who are 

 particularly partial to posts, palings, and the wood-work of 

 houses which has become soft by beginning to decay. 

 AVood actually decayed, or affected by dry-rot, they seem 

 to reject as unfit for their purposes ; but they make no 

 objections to any hole previously drilled, provided it be 

 not too large; and, like the mason-bees, they not unfre- 

 quently take possession of an old nest, a few repairs being 

 all that in this case is necessary. 



When a new nest is to be constructed, the bee proceeds 

 to chisel sufficient space for it out of the w^ood with her 

 jaws. We say her, because the task in this instance, as in 

 most others of solitary bees and wasps, devolves solely upon 

 the female, the male taking no concern in the affair, and 

 probably being altogether ignorant that such a work is 

 going forward. It is, at least, certain that the male is 

 never seen giving his assistance, and he seldom, if ever, 

 approaches the neighbourhood. The female carpenter-bee 

 has a task to perform no less arduous than the mason-bee ; 

 for though the wood may be tolerably soft, she can only cut 

 out a very small portion at a time. The successive portions 

 which she gnaws off may be readily ascertained by an 

 observer, as she carries them away from the place. In 

 giving the history of a mason-wasp (Odynerus'), at page 22, 

 we remarked the care with which she carried to a distance 



