Chap. J. MASON BEES. 43 



But the most numerous and interesting of the clay- 

 artificers are the workers of a species of social bee, the 

 Melipona fasciculata. The Meliponae in tropical Ame- 

 rica take the place of the true Apides, to which the 

 European hive-bee belongs, and which are here un- 

 known ; they are generally much smaller insects than 

 the hive-bees and have no sting. The M. fasciculata is 

 about a third shorter than the Apis mellifica : its 

 colonies are composed of an immense number of indi- 

 viduals ; the workers are generally seen collecting- 

 pollen in the same way as other bees, but great num- 

 bers are employed gathering clay. The rapidity and 

 precision of their movements whilst thus engaged are 

 wonderful. They first scrape the clay with their man- 



• ~ 1 -^ -'*< ' 



Melipona Bees gathering clay. 



dibles ; the small portions gathered are then cleared by 

 the anterior paws and passed to the second pair of feet, 

 which, in their turn, convey them to the large foliated 

 expansions of the hind shanks which are adapted nor- 

 mally in bees, as every one knows, for the collection of 

 pollen. The middle feet pat the growing pellets of 

 mortar on the hind legs to keep them in a compact shape 



