The Mason-bees 



surface of the pebble step by step and, after 

 long hesitations, goes and resumes her search 

 on the site where the home ought to be. The 

 nest that is no longer in its natural place is 

 definitely abandoned, even though it be but a 

 yard away from the original spot. Vainly 

 does the Bee settle on it time after time: she 

 cannot recognize it as hers. I was convinced 

 of this on finding it, several days after the 

 experiment, in just the same condition as when 

 I moved it. The open cell half-filled with 

 honey was still open and was surrendering its 

 contents to the pillaging Ants; the cell that 

 was building had remained unfinished, with 

 not a single layer added to it. The Bee, 

 obviously, may have returned to it; but she 

 had not resumed work upon it. The trans- 

 planted dweUing was abandoned for good and 

 all. 



I will not deduce the strange paradox that 

 the Mason-bee, though capable of finding her 

 nest from the verge of the horizon, is in- 

 capable of finding it at a yard's distance: I 

 interpret the occurrence as meaning something 

 quite different. The proper inference appears 

 to me to be this : the Bee retains a rooted im- 

 pression of the site occupied by the nest and 

 S8 



