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THE LEAF-CUTTER BEE 



[ESIDES the common honcy-bce, we 

 possess in England many hundred 

 species of what are called solitary bees. 

 Their lives are extremely interesting, 

 for many reasons. They live in all sorts of places, 

 some in holes in our gravel walks, some in dry 

 banks, where they form long, deep burrows in 

 which they lay their eggs, and then close up the 

 holes, leaving the young bees to find their own 

 way out. Other species adopt ready-made holes 

 in walls and brickwork, in which to rear their 

 families. Empty snail-shells may often be found 

 half full of dried mud placed there by one of 

 these eccentric bees, and if we examine this deposit 

 we shall find small cells, which are the cradles of 

 the immature bees. A hollow bramble stem is 

 the choice of the Mason bee (Osmia leucomelana). 

 In this convenient circular chamber the bee sets 

 to work and removes some of the pith till she has 

 a clear space of five or six inches ; then, having 

 prepared and masticated some substance which she 

 knows to be suitable for the food of her grubs, 

 she places a small quantity of it at the end of 

 the hollow space and lays an egg in it, so that 



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