Rationing According to Sex 



her with the least trouble the greatest num- 

 ber of data. In September I see the bold 

 filibuster flying from clump to clump of the 

 pink heather pillaged by the Bee. The ban- 

 dit suddenly arrives, hovers, makes her 

 choice and swoops down. The trick is done : 

 the poor worker, with her tongue lolling 

 from her mouth in the death-struggle, is 

 carried through the air to the underground 

 den, which is often a very long way from the 

 spot of the capture. The trickling of earthy 

 refuse, on the bare banks, or on the slopes 

 of foot-paths, instantly reveals the dwellings 

 of the ravisher; and, as the Philanthus al- 

 ways works in fairly populous colonies, I am 

 able, by noting the position of the 

 communities, to make sure of fruitful 

 excavations during the forced inactivity of 

 winter. 



The sapping is a laborious task, for the 

 galleries run to a great depth. Favier 

 wields the pick and spade ; I break the clods 

 which he brings down and open the cells, 

 whose contents — cocoons and remnants of 

 provisions — I at once pour into a little 

 screw of paper. Sometimes, when the larva 

 is not developed, the stack of Bees is intact; 

 more often the victuals have been consumed; 

 217 



