24 DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEES. 



very useful to the farmers in those distant lands, that 

 it is quite worth while. Hundreds have been taken, 

 and let loose in the fields. 



And then besides the humble bees there are, as I 

 have said, many other kinds, some of which are termed 

 • solitary bees ' — bees, that is, which live a solitary 

 life ; do not live in communities, but make nests by 

 themselves and for themselves alone. Amongst these 

 there is, for instance, the leaf-cutting solitary bee ; 

 which makes its little nest in the ground, or in clefts 

 of walls or trees, with small pieces of leaf cut and 

 fitted in with great care and trouble. 



There is also the mason bee ; so called because it 

 builds its little house of small stones — or, rather, 

 grains of sand — and plasters all, like a mason, with a 

 kind of cement or mortar of its own manufacture. 

 You may sometimes find one of these little nests, 

 almost the size of a walnut, fastened on to an old 

 wall ; and so firmly made that a knife will hardly cut 

 it. Or sometimes you may find ^them in very odd 

 places indeed. I know of a case where the little bee 

 chose for its nest the lock of a table drawer in a 

 clergyman's study, and another the padlock of a 

 door. These locks were found full of sand and dirt, 

 and were at first supposed to have been injured in 

 mischief; but upon being opened, were found to 

 contain the nest of a mason bee with food for its 

 young. 



Another kind of bee I saw lately making its nest 

 in an old nail-hole in the door of a shed. It was 

 filling it quite full with food ready for its young. 



