Bramble-D wellers 



in the tube. On the other hand, the experi- 

 ment showed me that the Osmia makes short 

 work of the material when it is a case of drill- 

 ing a hole through it. 



To keep out the light, which would disturb 

 my insects destined to spend their larval life in 

 complete darkness, I cover the tube with a 

 thick paper sheath, easy to remove and replace 

 when the time comes for observation. Lastly, 

 the tubes thus prepared and containing either 

 Osmige or other bramble-dwellers are hung 

 vertically, with the opening at the top, in a 

 snug corner of my study. Each of these ap- 

 pliances fulfils the natural conditions pretty 

 satisfactorily: the cocoons from the same 

 bramble-stick are stacked in the same order 

 which they occupied in the native shaft, the 

 oldest at the bottom of the tube and the young- 

 est close to the orifice; they are isolated by 

 means of partitions ; they are placed vertically, 

 heads upwards; moreover, my device has the 

 advantage of substituting for the opaque wall 

 of the bramble a transparent wall which will 

 enable me to follow the hatching day by day, 

 at any moment which I think opportune. 



The male Osmia splits his cocoon at the 

 end of June and the female at the beginning 



i6 



