210 THE WOODLANDS. 



cess is repeated until the completion of five or six. 

 cells necessary to fill the tube, when another is con- 

 structed with the same routine, until her store of eggs 

 is exhausted. The outer cell, after being closed in the 

 usual way, is filled up with earth. 



Another wild bee makes provision for its progeny 

 in a similar manner, but with different materials. 

 The Anthidium, instead of making its own burrow,, 

 takes one already made by the boring larvae of other 

 insects. This it lines to a suitable depth with the 

 cottony down which it scrapes from the leaves of 

 woolly-leaved plants. This down is collected by aid 

 of its mandibles, is rolled up in a little ball, and then 

 carried off to the nest. This operation is continued 

 until sufficient is accumulated for the purpose. She 

 then forms cells in it in succession, gluing the material 

 together to resist the escape of the pollen and honey 

 with which it is to be filled. The cell is closed after 

 the deposit of the egg, and another similar cell is 

 proceeded with until the cavity is filled, or the store 

 of eggs exhausted. 



The Carpenter Bees belong to the genus Chelostoma^ 

 and are abundant in some localities. They have 

 strong mandibles, which cross each other when at 

 rest. Sometimes they appropriate burrows already 

 formed, at others they construct tubes for themselves. 

 When they drill their own cylinders they are extremely 

 persevering in their execution, and in the process, the 

 fine sawdust which they make is drawn from the 

 bottom of the cavity, passed beneath them, and 

 thrown out of the cavity by means of their hinder-legs, 

 for they cannot turn round in the cavities they 



