WASPS, SOCIAL AND SOLITARY 



fell out. At the end of an hour we noted the amount 

 of accumulation in the tube, and thus had a measure 

 of their rate of work. The drawing gives an idea of the 

 arrangement of the tube on the stem. When we left 

 them they were still digging and delving. 



At half past nine we took a lantern and went down 

 to visit our charges. We expected to find them at rest, 

 and asleep ; but on the contrary they were working as 

 busily as ever, and upon examining the measuring 

 glasses we found that they had not paused since we 

 left them. We measured the depth of the debris in the 

 bottles, and then emptied them. 



At four o'clock on the next morning we went to the 

 garden, and were much surprised to find that the two 

 wasps had worked without intermission throughout 

 the night. Indeed they seemed to have shortened a 

 little the time that it took to make a round trip down 

 the gallery and up to the opening again, since there 

 was more pith in the bottles than we could have ex- 

 pected if they had worked at only their former rate. 

 Neither the coolness of the air nor the darkness of the 

 night had made the slightest difference to them. After 

 watching them a few minutes, and marveling at their 

 powers of endurance, we cleared out the tubes and 

 returned to bed. At half past eight we found them still 



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