THE BEE NATION. 285 



moment when the maker is away, and then to hold it by 

 force against the rightful owner. " Thus," adds Blanchard 

 to the relation of this fact which happens with nearly all 

 nest-building insects (and animals) and has already been 

 mentioned in the Introduction to this work " single indi- 

 viduals of the same species seem to possess quite different 

 tendencies. One is industrious and works honestly ; others 

 are lazy and try to possess themselves of their neighbor's 

 property by craft or force. Are there yet people who are 

 ignorant enough to regard animals as machines, and to 

 grasp nothing of the greatness of creation ? " 



" Does the mason bee act like a machine," says E. Menault 

 (loc. cit. p. 36), " when it directs its work according to cir- 

 cumstances, possesses itself of old nests, cleanses and 

 improves them, and thereby shows that it can fully appre- 

 ciate the immediate position ? Can one believe that no kind 

 of reflexion is here necessary ? " 



Bates noticed very similar facts (loc. cit., Bk. ii., p. 43, 

 etc.) among some species of South American Melipona, bees 

 which have no sting, and yield a rather finer honey than 

 their European relations. They utilise the baskets on their 

 hind-legs not only for pollen, but also for collecting earth 

 and carrying it home for building. They hang their combs 

 in hollow trees or in holes in a bank, and require the 

 earth to build up the opening of the hole, and to make 

 only a narrow passage. They are thus masons and honey- 

 gatherers at the same time. One small species is so prudent 

 as to put a tube of kneaded earth, with the outer opening 

 shaped like a trumpet, before its entrance, and here it keeps 

 a continual guard, protecting the passage. Another kind 

 collects leaves and chips, which it fastens together with resin 

 from trees, to close its nest. 



Drory (" Eichstadter Bee Journal," 1874, No. 24) who 

 kept some Meliponce sent to him from Brazil for a year near 

 his hive bees at Bordeaux, saw how these used accidentally 

 spread varnish for building, and how individuals building 

 tried to steal materials from each other. Cells for larvae 

 and for provisions are very different with them. Some 

 species (as the already mentioned Melipona scutellaris) show 

 great courage, and defend their nest very vigorously not 

 only against other insects but also against men who try to 

 destroy them. These wild bees are also perfectly competent 



