THE STORY WE LOVE BEST 



111 



Thus, you see, this matron has her family in an apart- 

 ment house, each child occupying an entire flat (Fig. 36). 

 Then there comes a time of rest for the industrious little 

 mother ; for her next duty is to remain quiet and wait 

 for her family 

 to grow up. But 

 her fidelity is 

 unfailing ; the 

 space left empty 

 at the top of the 

 tunnel serves as 

 a vestibule to 

 her dwelling, 

 and there she 

 waits and 

 watches over 

 her home. 



While she is 

 guarding the 

 door let us take 

 a peep into the 

 first cell and see what is taking place there. From 

 the egg there hatches a minute, white, footless 

 larva which immediately falls to eating the pollen pro- 

 vided by its thoughtful mother. On this food it thrives 

 and grows, until it is a quarter of an inch long ; by this 



Fig. 36. Little Carpenter Bee and her Nest. 



