68 THE RING OF NATURE 



a Melecta armata has been found so covered with 

 the parasites that it was unable to take flight. 

 So in this case the nimble creatures had overdone 

 the thing and perhaps all perished because the 

 last comers would not heed the cry of ' Full up.' 



Another bee that forces itself on the attention of 

 even the most casual observer is Andrena fulva, 

 affectionately called golden Andrena. When the 

 female first appears it is a stoutish bee well covered 

 with long silky hairs of a rich, almost dazzling 

 orange. It appears in dozens and scores, settling 

 on the sun-bathed ground and not fearing the 

 earthquake that we are when we walk. It is a 

 stingless bee, and so we can catch it and admire 

 its feathered legs and general woolly appearance, 

 and offering a finger to its mandibles find out how 

 well it can bite. But by watching respectfully 

 we find out more of its economy. 



Under a sheltering and land-marking leaf on 

 the edge of the gravel path or on the lawn, the 

 little golden lady begins to dig a hole just the 

 outside diameter of her body. As the hole 

 deepens, a little pile of debris marks the opening 

 of the shaft and the bee does not rest till she 

 has a more or less vertical gallery nearly a foot 

 in depth. Then she fetches pollen and makes 

 provision for one grub, the egg for which she lays 

 on the mass. She roofs that cell and successively 

 constructs four or five others above it, each stored 

 with the right quantity of pollen and furnished 

 with an embryo grub to eat it. We note that 



