Bramble-bees and Others 



boldly and look down upon alien establish- 

 ments with scorn. Of this number are the 

 Chalicodomae, the Mason-bees proper. 



The Mason-bee of the Pebbles does not 

 make up her mind to build a brand-new dome 

 unless there is a dearth of old and not quite 

 dilapidated nests. The mothers, sisters ap- 

 parently and heirs-at-law to the domain, dis- 

 pute fiercely for the ancestral abode. The 

 first who, by sheer brute force, takes possess- 

 ion of the dome perches upon it and, for 

 long hours, watches events while polishing her 

 wings. If some claimant puts in an appear- 

 ance, forthwith the other turns her out with 

 a volley of blows. In this way the old nests 

 are employed so long as they have not become 

 uninhabitable hovels. 



Without being equally jealous of the ma- 

 ternal inheritance, the Mason-bee of the Sheds 

 eagerly uses the cells whence her generation 

 issued. The work in the huge city under the 

 eaves begins thus : the old cells, of which, by 

 the way, the good-natured owner yields a por- 

 tion to Latreille's Osmia and to the Three- 

 horned Osmia alike, are first made clean and 

 wholesome and cleared of broken plaster and 

 then provisioned and shut. When all the 



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