The Mason-bees 



wearer.* Their story deserves to be told 

 without reticence; and I shall tell it later. 

 For the moment, I merely mention the names 

 of the three exterminators. 



The provisions are stolen, the egg is de- 

 stroyed. The young grub dies of hunger, the 

 larva is devoured. Is that all? Not yet. 

 The worker must be exploited thoroughly, in 

 her work as well as in her family. Here are 

 some now who covet her dwelling. When 

 the Mason is constructing a new edifice on 

 a pebble, her almost constant presence is 

 enough to keep the aspirants to free lodgings 

 at a distance; her strength and vigilance over- 

 awe whoso would annex her masonry. If, in 

 her absence, one greatly daring thinks of visit- 

 ing the building, the owner soon appears upon 

 the scene and ousts her with the most dis- 

 couraging animosity. She has no need then 

 to fear the entrance of unwelcome tenants 

 while the house is new. But the Bee of the 

 Pebbles also uses old dwellings for her lay- 

 ing, as long as they are not too much dilapi- 

 dated. In the early stages of the work, neigh- 



^Monodontomerus cupreus. For this and the Anthrax, 

 cf. The Life of the Fly: chaps, ii. and iii. The Leucospis 

 forms the subject of the next chapter of the present vol- 

 ume.- ^Translator's Note. 



264 



