How Animals Work. 



referred to by good old Gilbert White, who says of it 

 in his ever delightful History of Selborne : " There is 

 a sort of wild bee frequenting the garden-campion for 

 the sake of its tomentum, which probably it turns to 

 some purpose in the business of nidification. It is very 

 pleasant to see with what address it strips off the pubes, 

 running from the top to the bottom of a branch, and 

 shaving it bare with the dexterity of a hoop-shaver. 

 When it has got a bundle almost as large as itself, it 

 flies away, holding it secure between its chin and its 

 forelegs." These Carder Bees do not appear to form 

 burrows for themselves, but will utilize cavities in wood 

 that have been formed by other insects, or take posses- 

 sion of the deserted nests of other bees. The Carder 

 Bee having found a suitable receptacle, will line it with 

 a most beautiful network of cotton or wool, and inside 

 this she places a finer layer of the material, to which 

 is added a sort of waterproof cement to prevent the 

 honey mass stored by the bee for the use of its offspring 

 from leaking out of the nest. One species ot Carder 

 Bee which forms its nest in hollow stems has been 

 made the special study of Monsieur Fabre. He has 

 observed that it will take the cotton for its nest from 

 any suitable plant growing near at hand, not confining 

 itself to any particular order of plants, or even to those 

 peculiar to the south of France. " When it has brought 

 a ball of cotton to the nest, the bee spreads out and 

 arranges the material with its front legs and mandibles, 

 and presses it down with its forehead on to the cotton 

 previously deposited. In this way a tube of cotton is 

 constructed inside the reed. When withdrawn, the tube 

 proved to be composed of about ten distinct cells arranged 



