The Mason-bees 



And, in point of fact, they are well able to do 

 so. 



I place on the surface of the honey five or 

 six bits of straw a millimetre in length. Great 

 astonishment on the part of the returning In- 

 sect. Never before have so many sweepings 

 accumulated in its warehouse. The Bee picks 

 out the bits of straw, one by one, to the very 

 last, and each time goes and gets rid of them 

 at a distance. The effort is out of all propor- 

 tion to the work: I see the Bee soar above the 

 nearest plane-tree, to a height of thirty feet, 

 and fly away beyond It to rid herself of her 

 burden, a mere atom. She fears lest she 

 should litter the place by dropping her bit of 

 straw on the ground, under the nest. A thing 

 like that must be carried very far away. 



I place upon the honey-paste a Mason-bee*s 

 egg which I myself saw laid in and adjacent 

 cell. The Bee picks It out and goes and 

 throws It away at a distance, like the straws 

 just now. There are two Inferences to be 

 drawn from this, both extremely interesting. 

 In the first place, that precious egg, for whose 

 future the Bee labours so indefatigably, be- 



*.039 inch. — Translator's Note. 

 1 80 



