Bramble-bees and Others 



whether an old cell, occupied for a second 

 or third time, belonged originally to a female 

 or a male. 



The Chalicodoma of the Sheds cannot give 

 us any information on this matter. She builds 

 under the same eaves, in excessively populous 

 colonies; and it is impossible to follow the 

 labours of any single Mason, whose cells, dis- 

 tributed here and there, are soon covered up 

 with the work of her neighbours. All is mud- 

 dle and confusion in the individual output of 

 the swarming throng. 



I have not watched the work of the Chali- 

 codoma of the Shrubs with close enough at- 

 tention to be able to state definitely that this 

 Bee is a solitary builder. Her nest is a ball 

 of clay hanging from a bough. Sometimes, 

 this nest is the size of a large walnut and 

 then appears to be the work of one alone; 

 sometimes, it is the size of a man's fist, in 

 which case I have no doubt that it is the 

 work of several. These bulky nests, com- 

 prising more than fifty cells, can tell us 

 nothing exact, as a number of workers must 

 certainly have collaborated to produce them. 



The walnut-sized nests are more trust- 

 worthy, for everything seems to show that 



ii8 



