Instinct and Discernment 



name which I have felt justified in giving her 

 from her habits: she settles in numerous colo- 

 nies in the sheds, on the lower surface of the 

 tiles, where she builds huge nests which en- 

 danger the solidity of the roof. Nowhere 

 does the insect display a greater zeal for work 

 than in one of these colossal cities, an estate 

 which is constantly increasing as it passes 

 down from one generation to another; no- 

 where does it find a better workshop for the 

 exercise of its industry. Here it has plenty 

 of room : a quiet resting-place, sheltered from 

 damp and from excess of heat or cold. 



But the spacious domain under the tiles 

 is not within the reach of all: sheds with free 

 access and the proper sunny aspect are pretty 

 rare. These sites fall only to the favoured of 

 fortune. Where will the others take up their 

 quarters? More or less everywhere. With- 

 out leaving the house in which I live, I can 

 enumerate stone, wood, glass, metal, paint and 

 mortar as forming the foundation of the 

 nests. The green-house, with its furnace heat 

 in the summer and its bright light, equalling 

 that outside, is fairly well-frequented. The 

 Mason-bee hardly ever fails to build there 

 each year, in squads of a few dozen apiece, 



20 1 



