170 



SOLITARY BEES ; HUMBLE-BEES. 



agglutinating bits of sand or gravel, by means of a viscid saliva, 

 and constructing with these a regular edifice ; the next excavating 



FIG. 389 XYLOCOPA, OR CARPENTER BEE; AND NEST. 



wood by means of their powerful jaws ; and the last construct- 

 ing their cells out of pieces of leaves, which they cut into the 

 requisite form with surprising dexterity. The purpose of these 

 operations is, in all instances, to form a series of cells ; in each 

 of which an egg is deposited, with a supply of pollen-paste for 

 the nutrition of the larva. 



698. Of the Social Bees, or APID^E, there are two principal 

 groups ; the first consisting of the Humble- Bees or Wild- Bees ; 

 and the second of the Hive- Bees. 



699. The Bombi, or Humble-Bees, of which there are many 



species in this coun- 

 try, live in curious 

 habitations, which 

 are sometimes exca- 

 vated at a consider- 

 able depth in the 

 ground, and some- 

 times built upon 

 its surface, beneath 

 stones, &c. The so- 

 cieties consist, in 

 FIG. 390BoMBus. some species, of about 



fifty or sixty indivi- 

 duals ; in others of as many as 200 or 300. They contain three 



