1920] N hunger — Notes on Life-History of Anthophora slaufordiana 135 



NOTES ON THE LIFE-HISTORY OF 

 ANTHOPHORA S TANFORDIANA . 



By H. H. Nininger, 

 McPherson College, McPherson, Kans. 



Early in June of 1916 I chanced upon a small aggregation of these 

 large mining bees on the sunny slope of a moist clay bank in the 

 foot hills of the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California. 

 Their burrows were placed close together and in an almost vertical 

 position, and over the entrances of many of them were constructed 

 very peculiar bent-over chimneys of clay. In these particulars 

 they fit very well the description given by Kellogg. It was a bright 

 spring day and the warm sunshine kindled the vital spark in these 

 insects to the greatest activity. They were scurrying in and out of 

 their burrows and flying to and from a nearby spring in what 

 seemed to be feverish haste, until the hundred or more individuals 

 produced as much buzzing and humming as one would witness at 

 the entrance of a very strong colony of honey bees. 



They were engaged in digging tunnels, excavating nest-chambers, 

 building nesting cells within the nest-chambers, depositing eggs, 

 and provisioning nest cells. All of these activities were being pur- 

 sued most industriously. 



At the bottom of a tunnel five to seven inches deep, the bee 

 excavated an oval chamber about three-fourths inch in diameter 

 by one inch deep, and then built up within this a nest-cell to fit, 

 made of pellets of clay and worked smooth on the inner side, after 

 which it was coated with a thin layer of water-proofing which 

 seemed to be a salivary secretion. The top of the cell was, of 

 course, left open until the task of provisioning was completed. 

 When all completed but the cover, stanfordiana carried pollen and 

 made it into a very dry kind of bee bread on which an egg was laid. 

 Then she carried from the spring several drops of water which were 

 added to the mass without mixing. Having thus provided the 

 entire food supply for her young, she walled the cell over and 

 sealed it on the inner surface with the water-proofing, doubtless 

 by inserting her long tongue through a minute pore left in the 

 center of the lid, as evidenced by its structure, then sealed the 



