br THE HUMBLE-BEE vu 
It seemed that the only way to further escape 
from moisture and vermin was to go back to the 
plan of placing the nests deep in the ground and 
providing them with a long tunnel, as in the 1906 
experiments, but to line the sides and top of the 
nest-cavity with some kind of material impervious 
to moisture. 
This end I endeavoured to accomplish with a 
device that I shall call a ‘‘tin domicile,” because its 
essential part was a cylinder of tin-plate, open at 
both ends, about 5 in. in diameter, and 5 in. or 6 
in. high. My first experiments were made with 
ordinary tins, which, though not very suitable, were 
good enough to test the principle. I first removed 
the bottoms of the tins with a pair of strong scissors. 
To make the domicile, a cavity about 15 in. deep 
and a little wider than the size of the tin was dug 
in the selected spot. While I was digging this 
cavity with a trowel, my assistant made the tunnel 
or passage for the bees, which was about 2 ft. 6 in. 
long and 1} in. wide, by driving a long steel imple- 
ment through the ground with a mason’s hammer, 
directing it so as to emerge at the bottom of the 
cavity. If the head passed below the cavity the 
cavity was deepened to reach it. While the head 
of the implement was still in the cavity the tin, 
having its lid on, was placed in the cavity over it. 
The space outside the tin was then filled up with 
earth to a height of about 2 in. below the top of the 
tin, the earth being rammed down tight. After this 
the implement was withdrawn, the lid of the tin 
en es -_ — 
