136 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



They are very jealous of observation at this time, and if they 

 think that they are heing watched, will take instant offence and 

 fly off with a quick, eager sound, very different from the steady, 

 monotonous hum with which they accompany their researches. 

 To watch one of these insects in hopes of seeing her begin her 

 labours, is an endless task, for she will never dig an inch of soil 

 as long as she sees any suspicious object, and will often make 

 her way under a thick tuft of herbage, and remain quietly in the 

 retired nook untU she fancies that the danger has passed away. 



When, however, she has suited herself with a locality, she 

 scrapes away the ground quickly, and when she has dug to a 

 sufficient depth, she scoops out a small cavity or chamber, and 

 therein constructs her first nest. There are but few cells at the 

 beginning of the year, and these contain the first workers, who 

 are intended to assist in constructing the enlarged nest. The 

 larvoe are large, fat, white, round-bodied creatures, with little 

 homy heads, and their bodies always slightly curved. When 

 they have completed their feeding, each spins for itself an oval 

 cocoon of coarse silk, rather irregular in shape, very soft, tough, 

 and thick in consistency. 



Herein they remain until they have attained their perfect 

 state, when they gnaw a round piece from one end of the 

 cocoon, just as a chicken chips off the top of the egg, and emerge 

 into the nest. They do not venture out into the air for several 

 days, the thick hair with which they are covered being all matted 

 together, their wings soft and crumpled, and their limbs scarcely 

 able to bear them. Two or three days are generally passed in 

 the nest, and not until having gained their full strength do they 

 venture out into the wide world. None but worker bees are 

 developed for the first part of the year, the females and males 

 not making their appearance until the summer weather has 

 set in. 



As may be seen from the illustration, the cells of the Humble 

 Bee are not arranged in regular rows, like those of the hive bee, 

 but are set carelessly side by side, mostly fixed together in 

 groups of greater or lesser dimensions. Now and then a very 

 little group of two or three cells is found, and single cells are 

 occasionally to be seen, detached from the general mass. 



This species is more prolific than any other, and the nests 

 contain more individuals. Mr. Smith mentions that in one nest 



