130 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



the entrance of the hole — the collar, which at 

 such an expense of care and labor, she had 

 built but a few minutes before. Never did she 

 leave her exertions until the beautiful coaming, 

 now undermined, fell into the pit she had made, 

 broken forever. In the case of some of the other 

 bees I watched, the small ring of mortar was 

 loosened and carried off in sections just before 

 it caved in. 



The time was now ripe for making a final 

 filling of the opening above the wax plug; 

 for not a sign of the burrow must remain to 

 lure parasites to the precious honey treasure 

 beneath. The mother bee accordingly went 

 about the edge of the hole and scraped earth 

 into it until full. Again so near were her mo- 

 tions like those of a dog burying his bone 

 that it was hard to realize that this small crea- 

 ture was an insect and not some diminutive 

 mammal. 



This was but one of several burrows that 

 this mother and her consorts made in similar 

 manner. Hour after hour for several days the 

 industry of burrow excavating, provisioning, 

 and sealing was plied, and never ceased until 



