178 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



bottom of the cell she places an egg and some bee-bread, this 

 substance being composed of pollen mixed with honey, and then 

 sets to work upon another cell ; and in this manner she proceeds 

 until she has made a series of cells, some two inches in length. 

 When the cells are first made, the natural elasticity of the leaf 

 renders them firm, and as they become dry and stiff in a few 

 days, they are then so strong that they can be removed from the 

 burrow, and handled without breaking. 



There is another bee allied to this genus, that employs the 

 petals of the scarlet poppy for this purpose, but unfortunately 

 it is not a native of England. Another species of burrowing bee, 

 Megachile centuncularis, seems rather capricious in its choice 

 of burrows, at one time making its tunnel into an old post or 

 decaying tree, at another into the mortar of old walls, at another 

 into the ground. It is extremely variable in size, sometimes 

 barely exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and some- 

 times reaching twice that size. Mr. Smith mentions that this 

 is perhaps the most widely distributed bee in the whole family 

 of Apidae, extending even as far northwards as Hudson's 

 Bay. 



On the left hand of the same illustration may be seen a figure 

 of one of the pith-boring bees, many species of which inhabit 

 this country. This is the insect termed Hylseus dilatatus, and 

 in order to assist the reader in identifying it, a figure of the 

 insect itself is given on the right hand of the nest. Usually, 

 the Hylseus is obliged to bore its way through the pith by sheer 

 labour, but it will always avoid such a task if possible, and make 

 its cells in a hollow already existing. Such has been the case 

 with the nest from which the illustration was drawn, which was 

 made in the hollow stalk of a hemlock. Here let me mention 

 that all hollow stalks and twigs are likely localities for the nests 

 of insects, and that towards the autumn a rich collection may 

 often be made by the simple process of examining all such 

 objects, and splitting them carefully with a knife. Even the 

 reeds and rushes of the river are apt to contain nests, some of 

 them being exceedingly rare. 



The particular species of Hylaeus which is here figured is by 

 no means common, appearing to be a very local insect, confined 

 to certain spots, and seldom seen except in those favoured locaU- 



