The Mason-bees 



day of fine weather. A splendid morning Is 

 swiftly followed by a fitful afternoon; and my 

 experiments with Mason-bees have often suf- 

 fered by these variations. All things con- 

 sidered, I am Inclined to think that the home- 

 ward journey across the forest and the mount- 

 ain Is effected just as readily as across the 

 corn-fields and the plain. 



I have one last resource left whereby to 

 try and put my Bees out of their latitude. I 

 will first take them to a great distance; then, 

 describing a wide curve, I will return by an- 

 other road and release my captives when I 

 am near enough to the village, say, about two 

 miles. A conveyance Is necessary, this time. 

 My collaborator of the day in the woods of- 

 fers me the use of his gig. The two of us set 

 off, with fifteen Mason-bees, along the road 

 to Orange, until we come to the viaduct. 

 Here, on the right, is the straight ribbon of 

 the old Roman road, the Via Domitia. We 

 take it, driving north towards the Uchaux 

 Mountains, the classic home of superb Turo- 

 nlan fossils. We next turn back towards 

 Serlgnan, by the Piolenc Road. A halt is 

 made by the stretch of country known as Font- 

 Claire, the distance from which to the village 



