The Nest-building Odynerus 



superior to all others, for never outside any 

 abode of Anthophorae have I seen a colony 

 of Odyneri so populous as that of the 

 Orange poultry-house. 



The reeds invaded are laid horizontally, 

 a condition on which the Bees likewise insist, 

 if only to shelter from the rain the house- 

 door, plugged with pervious materials, such 

 as mud, cotton, or round, leafy disks. 

 Their inner diameter attains an average of 

 two-fifths of an inch. The length occupied 

 by the cells varies greatly. Sometimes the 

 Odynerus takes possession only of that 

 fragment of the interval between two knots 

 which the stroke of the pruning-knife has 

 left free, a fragment longer or shorter ac- 

 cording to the chances of the cutting. In 

 that case, a small number of cells is enough 

 to fill the available space. But generally, if 

 the stump be too short and not worth the 

 trouble of working, the insect bores through 

 the partition at the end and thus adds a 

 complete internode to the vestibule with the 

 open entrance. In a lodging of this kind, 

 some eight inches long, the number of 

 chambers will amount to fourteen or fifteen. 



In thus enlarging 1 the house by remov- 

 ing a floor, the Odynerus displays two sepa- 

 rate talents, the plasterer's and the car- 

 187 



