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68 THE COMMON WASP. 



and in this manner the animals proceed till the 

 whole is completed. 



M. de Reaumur, in order to examine some parts 

 of the internal economy of these insects, contrived 

 to make them lodge and work in glass hives like the 

 Honey-bees. Their extreme affection for their off- 

 spring, aided him greatly in this ; for he found that, 

 although their nests were cut in various directions, 

 and even exposed to the light, they never deserted 

 it, nor relaxed in their attentions to the young. 



Immediately after a wasp's nest had been trans- 

 ported from its natural situation, and covered with a 

 glass hive, the first operation of the insects was to 

 repair the injuries it had suffered. With wonderful 

 activity they carried ofT all the earth and foreign 

 bodies that had accidently been conveyed into the 

 hive. Some of them occupied themselves infixing 

 the nest to the top and sides of the hive by pillars 

 of paper, similar to those that support the different 

 stories or strata of combs; others repaired the 

 breaches it had sustained ; and others fortified it, by 

 augmenting considerably the thickness of its ex- 

 ternal cover. 



In the formation of their nests, Wasps differ great- 

 ly from the Bees. Instead of collecting the farina 

 of flowers, and digesting it into wax, they gnaw 

 small fibres of wood from the sashes of windows, 

 the posts and doors of gardens, &x. which their 

 strong and serrated jaws enable them to do with 

 great ease. These fibres, though very slender, are 

 often a tenth of an inch in length. After cutting a 

 certain number, they collect them into small bun- 



