The True Bees 



The tunnels generally run in opposite directions from the 

 opening, and sometimes other galleries are made, one parallel 

 with the other, using a common opening. 



While we may admire the industry of the carpenter bee in 

 doing all this hard work for its young, it is not averse to an easy 

 thing, and will use the same burrow over again, and if an old 

 deserted burrow can be found which was made the previous 

 summer, or even several years previously, it is preferred to the 

 drudgery of making a new one. Moreover, there are other bees 

 which will pre-empt the deserted burrows of the carpenter bees. 



After the tunnels are prepared the cells are made and sup- 

 plied with pollen. With the species under consideration the 

 cells are about seven-tenths of an inch long, and are separated 

 from each other by partitions which are made up of a single 

 flattened band of sawdust and fine chips glued together and 

 rolled up into a flat partition about four layers deep. The side 

 forming the bottom of the cell is concave and smooth, while the 

 other side is flat and rough. 



Even about the common carpenter bee there is much yet to 

 be learned, and a careful series of studies carried through an en- 

 tire season cannot fail to show novel facts. 



The mason bees of the family Megachilidae (sub-family 

 Osmiinae) derive their name from the manner in which they 

 construct small earthen cells under stones, in the burrows of 

 other bees, in decaying wood, in deserted snail shells, in old 

 galls, and elsewhere. These bees show a great diversity of 

 habit. Their cells are constructed of sand, earth or clay mixed 

 with pebbles and wood scrapings, but glued together so firmly 

 that they are smooth inside. Ten to twenty of them are usually 

 found together, and each one contains a store of honey and pol- 

 len, for the larvae, of which only one is found in each cell. 



One of these bees (Ceratosmia (Osmia) lignrcora Packard) 

 has been shown by Dr. Packard to be a true wood-borer. He saw 

 it make a tunnel three inches long in maple wood, the tunnel 

 containing five cells and the partitions being made of wood 

 chippings. 



The leaf-cutting bees of the same family are common crea- 

 tures whose habits are extremely interesting. They derive their 

 name from the fact that they cut pieces out of the tender leaves 

 of various trees with which to form their cells. The leaf-cutters 



10 



