HISTORY OF INSECTS. 37 



1 1 2. The flower-sleeping bee* is a wild species,-f 

 nearly black, and of small size : the male may be 

 found throughout the summer, apparently fast 

 asleep, in the blossoms of buttercups, and other 

 flowers, or flying over them : the female is the 

 very model of maternal industry, her whole life 

 being spent in providing for her family. 



113. This bee may be observed anxiously 

 examining posts, rails, trellis-work, &c., especially 

 on the sunny side : having found a part quite dry, 

 and a little going to decay, she commences by 

 piercing a hole nearly horizontally, about an inch 

 deep ; then changing the direction, she proceeds 

 as nearly in a perpendicular line as circumstances 

 will allow : her strong jaws are the sole instru- 

 ments with which nature has furnished her for 

 this difficult task ; but with these she contrives to 

 gnaw the wood to a sort of sawdust, which she 

 kicks out behind her, passing it from one pair of 

 feet to the next. 



114. Occasionally she comes to the mouth of 

 the hole, it may be to rest herself, or to look 

 round, and see that no enemies are near. The 

 excavation, which, when finished, is cylindrical, 

 and about ten or twelve inches long, is to be 

 divided into nearly twenty cells, which are to be 

 filled with food for her little ones, one of which 

 will occupy each cell. 



* Chelostoma florisomne. 



t DELTA, in Entomological Magazine. 



