SOLITARY BEES 



3007 



MASON BEE. 



i. Nest with bees emerging and larva in an open cell ; 2. Male ; 3. Females 

 fighting. (Natural size.) 



walls, or in specially constructed burrows in the ground. Among the leaves most 

 generally employed are those of the poplar, hornbeam, privet, poppy, and rose. 

 The mode in which these insects work, and the structure of their cells and burrows 

 are exhibited in the illus- 

 tration. Yet another type 

 of building is exemplified 

 by the carpenter bees 

 (Xytoeopa), which are 

 among the finest mem- 

 bers of the entire family. 

 Their ceils are built in 

 rows in the solid wood of 

 trees, and the method of 

 procedure will be observed 

 in the illustration exhibit- 

 ing the violet carpenter 

 bee (X. violacea}. This 

 species, which is rare in 

 Northern Europe, forms 

 a series of cells in each of 

 which lies a larva, and since the lower ones are obviously the oldest, it is some- 

 what difficult to understand how the newly emereged perfect bee escapes into the upper 

 air from the lower cell. At present it is not altogether clear what course it takes; 

 whether it gnaws its way through the chambers where brothers and sisters are 



peacefully awaiting future developments 

 at the imminent risk of arresting all 

 chances of such by thus breaking into their 

 bedrooms, to the detriment of nervous 

 systems not yet hardened to bear the strain 

 or whether it gnaws its way straight 

 but at the side, seems a matter of doubt. 

 Some authorities state that the female has 

 already foreseen and guarded against such 

 undesirable contingencies, by preparing a 

 door of escape at the bottom of the lower 

 cell. And they record as a remarkable 

 fact that the bees, each in turn, gnaw 

 through the floor of its cell, and of course 

 find their elder brother or sister already 

 flown from the cell next below. They 

 never go in the opposite direction through 

 VIOLET- WINGED CARPENTER BEE, WITH CELLS the roof Q ur next examples of this fam- 



CUT OUT IN A TREE STEM. , , ., ,, , , >. 



ily are the flower bees (Anthophora) , of 



which three species are shown in the following illustration. In general appearance 

 these insects closely approximate to humblebees. They build their nests in bur- 



