288 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



The nest is always hung near the ground, quite as low as that 

 of the Myrapetra, and is suspended from the slender twigs and 

 long, delicate leaves which are woven into its substance, and in 

 many places pierce completely through the nest, and project 

 through the outer covering. It is, however, destitute of the sharp 

 projections which guard the home of the latter insect, and as the 

 outer wall is both thin and fragile, it would fall an easy prey to 

 any insect-eating animal that might take a fancy to it. I can not 

 but think that this utterly defenseless state of the Nectarinia's 

 nest affords a proof that the spikes upon the habitation of the 

 Myrapetra are not for the purpose of defending the nest against 

 the attacks of enemies. 



As is the case with the Myrapetra, the cells are made with walls 

 much firmer than those of our English wasps or hornet, which 

 are only intended to hold successive generations of young, and in 

 consequence are made of a comparatively flimsy material, only 

 strengthened very slightly at the entrance. Were honey to be 

 placed in the cell of any known British wasp it would immediate- 

 ly soak into the walls of the cell, and thence escape by slow de- 

 grees ; but as the young grub, which is the only tenant of the cell, 

 is without feet and is not in the least formed for locomotion, a 

 very slight partition is sufficient to control its movements. 



The grub does nothing but hold to the end of the cell with its 

 piercers, open its mouth for food, and occasionally protrude or 

 withdraw itself in a very slight degree; and its utter immobility 

 in the larval and pupal states affords a strange contrast to the 

 restless and fussy activity which actuates it after it has attained 

 its perfect form. 



As is generally known, the nests of wild honey-bees are placed 

 in the hollows of trees. Mr. Cotton, the well-known apiarian, 

 remarked, when discussing the comparative merits of straw and 

 wooden hives, that in a state of nature the bee never builds in a 

 truss of straw, but in a hollow tree. Now, although I quite con- 

 cur with that author in his partiality for the wooden hive, I can 

 not see that the illustration which he employs has any thing to 

 do with the subject, or that it affords the least proof on either 

 side of the argument. Wild bees are not very likely to find 

 trusses of straw in the woods, and those trusses conveniently hol- 

 lowed to receive them. But I do think that if a few common 

 straw hives were set in the woods, the bees would be as likely to 

 take up their habitation in them as in the hollows of trees. 



