Bramble-bees and Others 



better than these muddy hovels : she has snug 

 corners in the stone-heaps, hiding-places in the 

 sunny walls and many other convenient habita- 

 tions. And so the natives of a village become 

 scattered far and wide. 



In April, the scattered ones reassemble 

 from all directions. On the well-flattened 

 garden-paths a choice Is made of the site for 

 their common labours. Operations soon be- 

 gin. Close to the first who bores her shaft 

 there is soon a second one, busy with hers; a 

 third arrives, followed by another and others 

 yet, until the little mounds often touch one 

 another, while at times they number as many 

 as fifty on a surface of less than a square yard. 



One would be inclined, at first sight, to say 

 that these groups are accounted for by the in- 

 sect's recollection of its birth-place, by the 

 fact that the villagers, after dispersing dur- 

 ing the winter, return to their hamlet. But It 

 Is not thus that things happen : the Halictus 

 scorns to-day the place that once suited her. 

 I never see her occupy the same patch of 

 ground for two years in succession. Each 

 spring, she needs new quarters. And there 

 are plenty of them. 



Can this mustering of the Halicti be due 



416 



