CHAPTER XXII 



TRAILING A BEE TO ITS LAIR 



A TINY solitary bee, 1 with a yellow speck on each of her 

 hind legs, winged her way to the sandy driveway, then 

 after hovering for a second or two above a little hill of sand 

 and pebbles, she dove straight as an arrow, into the hole in 

 the center of the mound. 



Near by there was another creature, a huge two-legged one, thou- 

 sands of times the size of the bee, but that little insect excited the 

 big animal greatly, so much so in fact, that he could not rest until 

 he had seen the inside of the little creature's nest and found out the 

 why and wherefore of her each and every fiercely energetic move. 



But there was only difficulty and disappointment in store for the 

 big creature, for in his haste to get at the secret, he tried to dig 

 out the bee's home in the underworld and after following its curious 

 winding course for a few inches, the sand and pebbles rolled into 

 the opening, buried the unsuspecting insect and ended the matter, 

 as far as that particular bee and her nest were concerned! 



Some days later, however, another little mound much like the 

 first one, only higher, appeared upon the drive close to the old site. 

 Now it happened that the big interested creature also spied this 

 second little heap of sand and stones. The sight made him rejoice, 

 but he resolved to be more cautious, lest he destroy another home 

 before finding out the mysteries going on within. 



All that day and all of the next that little bee was watched, and 

 each time that she came to the nest, her thighs were clustered with 



1 Colletes. 



1 60 



