304 INSECT LIFE 



XXI 



pollen. As it was growing late, observations could 

 not be continued. When the sun goes down the 

 mason bees leave the nest and take refuge I know 

 not where — here and there — perhaps under roof tiles 

 and in little shelters in walls. I could not count on 

 the arrival of the others until work was resumed in 

 full sunshine. 



The next day, when sunshine recalled the scattered 

 workers, I again counted the bees with white dots on 

 their thorax. My success surpassed all my hopes ; 

 I counted fifteen — fifteen of the deported bees storing 

 or building as if nothing had happened ! Then the 

 storm, which had threatened more and more, burst, 

 and a succession of rainy days stopped all further 

 observations. 



Such as it was, the experiment sufficed. Out of 

 twenty bees which seemed fit for the journey when 

 released, fifteen at least had come back — two in the 

 first hour, and three in the course of the evening, and 

 the rest next morning. They had come back in 

 spite of having the wind against them, and — a yet 

 greater difficulty — in spite of their unfamiliarity with 

 the place whither I had transported them. There 

 could be no question that it was for the first time that 

 they saw the osier beds of the Aygues which I had 

 chosen as the starting-place. Never on their own 

 account had they gone so far afield, for they find all 

 they want by way of building material and food close 

 to my shed. The road at the foot of the wall 

 furnishes mortar ; the meadows round my house 

 offer nectar and pollen. Economical of time as 

 they are, they would not fly four kilometres to 

 procure what abounds close to the nests. I see 



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