Bramble-bees and Others 



The work begins with a thorough spring- 

 cleaning of the home. Remnants of cocoons, 

 dirt consisting of spoilt honey, bits of plaster 

 from broken partitions, remains of dried mol- 

 lusc at the bottom of a shell : these and much 

 other Insanitary refuse must first of all disap- 

 pear. Violently the Osmla tugs at the offend- 

 ing object and tears It out; and then off she 

 goes, In a desperate hurry, to dispose of it far 

 away from the study. They are all alike, these 

 ardent sweepers: In their excessive zeal, they, 

 fear lest they should block up the place with 

 a speck of dust which they might drop in 

 front of the new house. The glass tubes, 

 which I myself have rinsed under the tap, are 

 not exempt from a scrupulous cleaning. The 

 Osmia dusts them, brushes them thoroughly 

 with her tarsi and then sweeps them out back- 

 wards. What does she pick up? Not a thing. 

 It makes no difference: as a conscientious 

 housewife, she gives the place a touch of the 

 broom nevertheless. 



Now for the provisions and the partition- 

 walls. Here the order of the work changes 

 according to the diameter of the cylinder. 

 My glass tubes vary greatly In dimensions. 

 The largest have an inner width of a dozen 



72 



