46 INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



bank, facing the south, near Sir Thomas Brisbane's obser- 

 vatory. With respect to exposure, indeed, no certain rule 

 seems applicable ; for the nests of mason-bees which we 

 found on the wall of Greenwich Park faced the north-east, 

 and we have often found carpenter-bees make choice of a 

 similar situation. In one instance, we found carpenter-bees 

 working indifferently on the north-east and south-west side 

 of the same post. 



As we did not perceive any heaps of earth near the 

 holes at Largs, we concluded that it must either have been 

 carried off piecemeal when they were dug, or that they 

 were old holes reoccupied (a circumstance common with 

 bees), and that the rubbish had been trodden down by 

 passengers. Eeaumur, who so minutely desciibes the 

 subsequent operations of the bee, sa3"s nothing respecting 

 its excavations. One of these holes is about three inches 

 deep, gradually widening as it descends, till it assumes the 

 form of a small Florence flask. The interior of this is 

 rendered smooth, uniform, and polished, in order to adapt 

 it to the tapestry with which it is intended to be hung, and 

 which is the next step in the process. 



The material used for tapestry by the insect upholsterer 

 is supplied by the flower-leaves of the scarlet field-poppy, 

 from which she successively cuts off small pieces of an oval 

 shape, seizes them between her legs, and conveys them to 

 the nest. She begins her work at the bottom, which she 

 overlays with three or four leaves in thickness, and the sides 

 have never less than two. When she finds that the piece 

 she has brought is too large to fit the place intended, she 

 cuts off what is superfluous, and carries awa}^ the shreds. 

 By cutting the fresh petal of a poppy With a pair of scissors, 

 we may perceive the difiiculty of keeping the piece free 

 from wrinkles and shrivelling ; but the bee knows how to 

 spread the pieces which she uses as smooth as glass. 



AVhen she has in this manner hung the little chamber 

 all around with this splendid scarlet tapestry, of which 

 she is not sparing, but extends it even beyond the entrance, 

 she then fills it with the pollen of flowers mixed with 

 honey, to the height of about half an inch. In this magazine 



