526 



HISTORY OF INSECTS. 



perched on every flower. They build their 

 nest in holes in the ground, of dry leaves, 

 mixed with wax and wood, defended with 

 moss from the weather. Each humble-bee 

 makes a separate cell about the size of a small 

 nutmeg, which is round and hollow, contain- 

 ing the honey in a bag. Several of these 

 cells are joined together in such a manner, 

 that the whole appears like a cluster of grapes. 

 The females, which have the appearance of 

 wasps, are very few, and their eggs are laid 

 in cells, which the rest soon cover over with 

 wax. It is uncertain whether they have a 

 queen or not ; but there is one much larger 

 than the rest, without wings, and without 

 hair, and all over black, like polished ebony. 

 This goes and views all the works, from time 

 to time, and enters into the cell, as if it wanted 

 to see whether every thing was done right. 

 In the morning the young humble-bees are 

 very idle, and seem not at all inclined to la- 

 bour, till one of the largest, about seven o'clock, 

 thrusts half its body from a hole designed for 

 that purpose, and seated on the top of the nest, 

 beats its wings for twenty minutes succes- 

 sively, buzzing the whole time, till the whole 

 colony is put in motion. The humble-bees 

 gather honey as well as the common bees ; 

 but it is neither so fine nor so good, nor the 

 wax so clean, or so capable of fusion. 



Beside the bees already mentioned, there 

 are various kinds among us, that have much 

 the appearance of honey-makers, and yet make 

 only wax. The Wood-Bee is seen in every 

 garden. It is rather larger than the common 



leeks and onions, where, on a single flower, may be seen 

 half a dozen at the same moment. At this early period 

 of the year, the female is a solitary being, and her flights 

 are directed in search of a place suitable fora habitation. 

 The females only, of all the former year's colony, have 

 survived the winter, and now dispersing, each seeks a 

 residence for herself, where she may become the found- 

 ress of a new community. Having pitched upon a con- 

 venient spot, the laborious insect proceeds to excavate 

 first the passage or gallery, then the nest itself, detaching 

 the soil, as it were, grain by grain ; she seizes the mole- 

 cule with the first pair of legs, transfers it instantly to 

 the second, receives it next with the third, and finally 

 pushes it as far as possible behind her. These excava- 

 tions, situated often above a foot under the surface, are 

 wholly the work of the solitary female. Sometimes, 

 however, the nest is made close to, or even upon the 

 suri'ace when partially hollow, and covered with dry 

 moss ; but this is not the usual mode pursued by this 

 species, and in such localities the colony is far less 

 numerous than when at a greater depth. 



Having finished the excavation, and carpeted her new 

 dwelling with soft leaves, &c., the insect proceeds 

 to construct brood cells. The wax of which these 

 are formed is secreted, as in the domestic bee, in cer- 

 tain receptacles placed on each side of the middle pro- 

 cess of the abdominal scales, and is extracted by the bee 

 in the form of laminae, moulded to the shape of the 

 insect's body. Uulike the queen of the hive bees, the 

 mother-bee of this family possesses these wax-secreting 

 organs as well as the workers, and produces the substance 

 in greater quantity than her progeny. 



queen-bee ; its body of a bluish black, which 

 is smooth and shining. It begins to appear 

 at the approach of spring, and is seen flying 

 near walls exposed to a sunny aspect. This 

 bee makes its nest in some piece of wood, 

 which it contrives to scoop and hollow for its 

 purpose. 1 This, however, is never done in 



1 We have frequently witnessed, says Mr Rennie, 

 the operations of these ingenious little workers, who are 

 particularly partial to posts, palings, and the wood -work 

 of houses which has become soft by beginning to decay. 

 Wood actually decayed, or aflected by dry-rot, they seem 

 to reject as unfit for their purposes ; but they make no 

 objections to any hole previously drilled, provided it be 

 not too large ; and, like the mason-bees, they not unfre- 

 quently take possession of an old nest, a few repairs 

 being all that in this case is necessary. When a new 

 nest is to be constructed, the bee proceeds to chisel suf- 

 ficient space for it out of the wood with her jaws. 

 We say her, because the task in this instance, as in most 

 others of solitary bees and wasps, devolves solely upon 

 the female, the male taking no concern in the afiair, and 

 probably being altogether ignorant that such a work is 

 going forward. It is at least certain the male is never 

 seen giving his assistance, and he seldom if ever ap- 

 proaches the neighbourhood. The female carpenter-bee 

 has a task to perform no less arduous than the mason-bee ; 

 for though the wood may be tolerably soft, she can only 

 cut out a very small portion at a time. The successive 

 portions which she gnaws off" may be readily ascertained 

 by an observer, as she carries them away from the place. 

 In giving the history of a mason-wasp, we remarked the 

 care with which she carried to a distance little fragments 

 of brick, which she detached in the progress of excavation. 

 We have recently watched a precisely similar procedure 

 in the instance of a carpenter-bee forming a cell in a 



wooden post. The only difference was, that the bee did 

 not fly so far away with her fragments of wood as the 

 wasp did ; but she varied the direction of her flight every 

 time ; and we could observe, that after dropping the chip 

 of wood which she had carried off, she did not return in a 

 direct line to her nest, but made a circuit of some extent 

 before wheeling round to go back. 



" On observing the proceedings of this carpenter-bee 

 next day, we found her coming in with balls of pollen 

 on her thighs ; and on tracing her from the nest into thu 

 adjacent garden, we saw her visiting every flower which 

 was likely to yield her a supply of pollen for her future 

 progeny. This was not all : we subsequently saw her 

 taking the direction of a clay-quarry frequented by the 

 mason-bees, where we recognized her loading herself with 

 a pellet of clay, and carrying it into her cJl in the 

 wooden post. We observed her alternating this labour for 

 several days, at one time carrying clay, and at another 

 pollen ; till at length she completed her task, and closed 

 the entrance with a barricado of clay, lo prevent the in- 

 trusion of any insectivorous depredator, who might make 

 prey of her young ; or of some prying parasite, whc might 

 introduce its own eggs into the nest she had taken so 

 much trouble to construct. 



