NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



and animated nature is astir, one may see the mother 

 carpenter bee hovering around old fences or the dead 

 limbs of trees or projecting bits of buildings. 



"There is a bumblebee!" 



One often hears that exclamation as the carpenter 

 flits by. There is some excuse for the mistake, for she 

 is even larger than that famous cave-dwelling Bombus, 



MALE AND FEMALE CARPENTER BEE (xYLOCOPA VIBGINICa) 



174 



