84 AMONGST THE BEES AT WORK 



Even when dull, however, it is a very interesting 

 spot, and we can notice the numbers of holes 

 bored in the bank, and their different sizes and 

 shapes ; most of them are round, but some sand- 

 wasps make very irregular holes. If we look 

 closely at some of the holes we shall see something 

 closing the aperture, and, if we are too inquisitive, 

 that something will disappear down the hole 

 like lightning ; it is the face of the owner of the 

 burrow waiting to come out for the first ray of 

 sunshine, but the owner is very timid and it 

 will be some minutes before she puts her face 

 so near danger again. In most of the sand- 

 wasps the face is clothed with bright silvery, 

 or sometimes golden, hairs, and it is a very pretty 

 sight to see these little silvery faces peering out 

 of their burrows. Again, one may sometimes 

 notice a little stream of sand emerging from 

 a hole ; this is from some bee who is enlarging 

 her domain or clearing out some of the sand 

 which occasionally falls in. In some cases this 

 ejection of sand is done with a great deal of 

 action : the sand comes streaming out and then 

 the bee follows, quite up to the mouth of the 

 passage, kicking out the sand as hard as it can. 



