Bramble-bees and Others 



how will she set about her release? The way 

 Is blocked by the nearest cocoons, as yet intact. 

 To clear herself a passage through the string 

 of those cocoons would mean to exterminate 

 the remainder of the brood; the deliverance of 

 one would mean the destruction of all the rest. 

 Insects are notoriously obstinate in their ac- 

 tions and unscrupulous in their methods. If 

 the Bee at the bottom of the shaft wants to 

 leave her lodging, will she spare those who bar 

 her road? 



The difficulty is great, obviously; It seems 

 insuperable. Thereupon we become suspi- 

 cious : we begin to wonder if the emergence 

 from the cocoon, that is to say, the hatching, 

 really takes place in the order of primogeni- 

 ture. Might it not be — by a very singular ex- 

 ception, it is true, but one which is necessary in 

 such circumstances — that the youngest of the 

 Osmiae bursts her cocoon first and the oldest 

 last; In short, that the hatching proceeds from 

 one chamber to the next in the inverse direc- 

 tion to that which the age of the occupants 

 would lead us to presume? In that case, the 

 whole difficulty would be removed: each Os- 

 mia, as she rent her silken prison, would find 

 a clear road In front of her, the Osmiae nearer 



II 



