The Mason-bees 



to open the bags. The whole performance 

 is thus effected without once giving that di- 

 stressing squeeze of the fingers. 



Another question remains to be solved be- 

 fore we go further. What time-limit shall 

 I allow for this census of the Bees that return 

 to the nest? Let me explain what I mean. 

 The dot which I have made in the middle of 

 the thorax with a touch of my sticky straw 

 Is not very permanent : it merely adheres to 

 the hairs. At the same time, it would have 

 been no more lasting if I had held the insect 

 in my fingers. Now the Bee often brushes her 

 back: she dusts it each time she leaves the 

 galleries; besides, she is always rubbing her 

 coat against the walls of the cell, which she 

 has to enter and to leave each time she brings 

 honey. A Mason-bee, so smartly dressed at 

 the start, at the end of her work is in rags; 

 her fur is all worn bare and as tattered as a 

 mechanic's overall. 



Furthermore, in bad weather, the Mason- 

 bee of the Walls spends the days and nights 

 in one of the cells of her dome, suspended 

 head downwards. The Mason-bee of the 

 Sheds, as long as there are vacant galleries, 

 does very nearly the same : she takes shelter 

 86 



