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THE WOOD-PIERCER*. 



The operations of the Wood-Piercers merit atten- 

 tion. These bees are larger than the queens of the 

 Honey-bee. Their bodies are smooth, except the 

 sides, which are covered with hair. In the spring 

 they frequent gardens, and search for rotten or at 

 least for dead wood, in order to make an habitation 

 for their young. They usually choose the decaying 

 uprights of arbours, espaliers, or the props of vines j 

 but will sometimes attack garden seats, thick doors, 

 and window shutters. 



When the female of this species, for she receives 

 no assistance from the male, has selected a piece of 

 wood suited to her purpose, which is most com- 

 monly such as is perpendicular to the horizon, she 

 begins her work by boring perpendicularly into it : 

 when she has advanced about half an inch, she 

 changes her direction, and then proceeds nearly pa- 

 rallel with its sides for twelve or fifteen inches, mak- 

 ing the hollow about half an inch in diameter. If 

 the wood be sufficiently thick, she sometimes forms 

 three or four of these long holes in its interior: a la- 

 bour which for a single insect seems prodigious, but 

 in executing it some weeks are often employed. On 

 the ground, for about a foot from the place in which 

 one of these bees is working, little heaps of timber 

 dust are to be seen. These heaps daily increase in 

 size, and the particles that compose them are almost 



Apis viol acea . L inn. 



