The Cotton-bees 



had answered perfectly with the Three- 

 horned Osmia and Latreille's Osmia, whose 

 little housekeeping-secrets I had learnt thanks 

 to the transparent dwelling-house. Why- 

 should it not answer with the Cotton-bees and, 

 in the same way, with the Leaf-cutters? I 

 almost counted on success. Events betrayed 

 my confidence. For four years I supplied my 

 hives with glass tubes and not once did the 

 Cotton-weavers or the Leaf-cutters con- 

 descend to take up their quarters in the crystal 

 palaces. They always preferred the hovel 

 provided by the reed. Shall I persuade them 

 one day? I do not abandon all hope. 



Meanwhile, let me describe the little that 

 I saw. More or less stocked w'lth cells, the 

 reed is at last closed, right at the orifice, with 

 a thick plug of cotton, usually coarser than 

 the wadding of the honey-satchels. It is the 

 equivalent of the lliree-horned Osmia's barri- 

 cade of mud, of the leaf-putty of Latreille's 

 Osmia, of the Mcgachiles' barrier of leaves 

 cut into disks. All these free tenants are care- 

 ful to shut tight the door of the dwelling, of 

 which they have often utilized only a portion. 

 To watch the building of this barricade, 

 which is almost external work, demands only 



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