Bramble-bees and Others 



one or two millimetres thick. ^ The rooms 

 separated by these partitions form so many 

 little barrels or kegs, each compactly filled 

 with a reddish, transparent cocoon, through 

 which the larva shows, bent into a fish-hook. 

 The whole suggests a string of rough, oval 

 amber beads, touching at their amputated 

 ends. 



In this string of cocoons, which is the old- 

 est, which the youngest? The oldest is ob- 

 viously the bottom one, the one whose cell 

 was the first built ; the youngest is the one at 

 the top of the row, the one in the cell last 

 built. The oldest of the larvae starts the pile, 

 down at the bottom of the gallery; the latest 

 arrival ends it at the top ; and those in between 

 follow upon one another, according to age, 

 from base to apex. 



Let us next observe that there is no room, 

 in the shaft, for two Osmiae at a time on the 

 same level, for each cocoon fills up the storey, 

 the keg that belongs to it, without leaving any 

 vacant space; let us also remark that, when 

 they attain the stage of perfection, the Osmiae 

 must all emerge from the shaft by the only 



^.039 to .079 inch. — Translator's Note. 



9 



