WASPS NESTS. 



333 



observed but with admiration at the elegance of its 

 structure ; and the unusual appearance of the 

 whole must excite the attention of the most incu- 

 rious observer of such things. 



But this wasp does not appear always to fabri- 

 cate her nest upon an uniform principle, but varies 

 it as circumstances necessitate ; for this summer 

 (1829) another of these constructions, of a similar 

 nature, was obtained from a very different situation. 

 A weak swarm of the common bee had possession 

 of a hive, but whether they abandoned it from 

 dislike, or were dispossessed, is uncertain : however 

 the hive, feeling light, was examined, and a nest of 

 the species of wasp above described was found fixed 



upon a common waxen comb, commenced by the 

 hive bee. It is rather singular that so small a com- 



