Carder-Bees. 



75 



tion about half a foot in diameter ; but when they cannot 

 find one to suit their purpose, they undertake the Herculean 

 task of digging one themselves. They cover this hollow 

 with a dome of moss sometimes, as we have ascertained, 

 of withered grass. They make use, indeed, of whatever 

 materials may be within their reach ; for they do not attempt 

 to bring any thing from a distance, not even when they are 

 deprived of the greater portion by an experimental naturalist. 

 Their only method of transporting materials to the building 



Fig. A represents two Carder- Bees heckling moss for their Nests; 

 B, exterior view of the Nest of the Carder- Bee. 



is by pushing them along the ground the bee, for that 

 purpose, working backwards, with its head turned from the 

 nest. If there is only one bee engaged in this labour, as 

 usually happens in the early spring, when a nest is founded 



