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CHAPTER XI 



THE ADVENTURES OF A GRUB 

 I 



THE YOUNG SITARIS 



high banks of sandy clay in the country 

 round about Carpentras are the favourite haunts 

 of a host of Bees and Wasps, those lovers of 

 a sunny aspect and of soil that is easy to dig 

 in. Here, in the month of May, two Bees, both of them 

 Mason-bees, builders of subterranean cells, are especially 

 abundant. One of them builds at the entrance of her 

 dwelling an advanced fortification, an earthy cylinder, 

 wrought in open work and curved, of the width and length 

 of a man's finger. When it is peopled with many Bees one 

 stands amazed at the elaborate ornamentation formed by all 

 these hanging fingers of clay. 



The other Bee, who is very much more frequently seen 

 and is called Anthophora pilipes, leaves the opening of her 

 corridor bare. The chinks between the stones in old walls 

 and abandoned hovels, or exposed surfaces of sandstone or 

 marl, are found suitable for her labours ; but the favourite 

 spots, those to which the greatest number of swarms resort, 

 are straight stretches of ground exposed to the south, such 

 as occur in the cuttings of deeply-sunken roads. Here, 

 over areas many yards in width, the wall is drilled with a 

 multitude of holes, which give to the earthy mass the look 

 of some enormous sponge. These round holes might have 

 been made with a gimlet, so regular are they. Each is the 

 entrance to a winding corridor, which runs to the depth of 



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