458 



HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



The walls of the chamber they consider a sufficient protection for 

 the combs. 



"If you expect them to form a substantial covering, the combs 

 must be so placed as to have ample space around them ; and if 

 you expect them to fabricate a covering of great beauty, you 

 must select the richest colored woods, and such as form the most 

 striking contrasts, and place them so that the insects shall be in- 

 duced, nay, almost compelled to use them in the construction of 

 their nest. This is exactly what I did with reference to the nest 

 in question." 



Knowing from experience the difficulty of assaulting a Hor- 

 net's nest, I asked Mr. Stone how he performed the task, and was 

 told that his chief reliance was placed on chloroform. Approach- 

 ing very cautiously to the nest, he twists some cotton wool round 

 the end of a stick, soaks it in chloroform, and pushes it into the 



