NEST OF THE POPPY BEE. 299 



derived from the material employed for her work by this par- 

 ticular species. It is doubted by Kirby and Spence whether 

 the poppy bee is a native of Britain ; but the author of " Insect 

 Architecture " ' is almost certain of having seen the nests of her 

 species in Scotland. We shall give from the latter an interest- 

 ing description of a tunnelled nursery, formed, arid hung, and 

 furnished by one of these little maternal artificers. 



" One of these holes is about three inches deep, gradually 

 widening as it descends, till it assumes the form of a small 

 Florence flask. The interior of this excavation is rendered 

 smooth, uniform, and polished, in order to adapt it to the 

 tapestry with which it is intended to be hung, and which is 

 the next step in the process. 



" The material used for tapestry by this insect upholsterer is 

 supplied by the flower-leaves of the scarlet field-poppy, from 

 which she successively cuts off small oval pieces, seizes them 

 between- her legs, and conveys them to the nest. She begins 

 her work at the bottom, which she overlays with three or four 

 leaves in thickness, and the sides have never less than two. 

 When she finds that the piece she has brought is too large to 

 fit the place intended, she cuts off what is superfluous and 

 carries away the shreds. By cutting the fresh petal of a poppy 

 with a pair of scissors, we may perceive the difficulty of keep- 

 ing the piece free from wrinkles and shrivelling ; but the bee 

 knows how to spread the pieces which she uses as smooth as 



" When she has in this manner hung the little chamber 

 round with this splendid scarlet tapestry, of which she is not 

 sparing, but extends it even beyond the entrance, she then fills 

 it with the pollen of flowers mixed with honey, to the height of 

 about half an inch. In this magazine of provisions for her 

 future progeny she lays an egg, and, over it, folds down the 

 tapestry of poppy petals from above. The upper part is then 

 filled in with earth." 2 



1 Rennie. 2 " Insect Architecture." 



