THE CARDER BEE. 81 
of horsehair. Unfortunately this remarkable nest was 
destroyed before it was completed. 
Another very interesting deviation from the usual 
economy of the moss-building Bees was observed by Dr. 
William Bell. During the summer of 1854, a robin built 
its nest in the porch of his cottage at Putney. Some time 
after this had been observed, a Humble Bee took posses- 
sion of the nest, and adapted it to her own purpose. He 
was unfortunately unable to identify the species by cap- 
turing a specimen, the nest having been destroyed; but 
Dr. Bell saw the Bee on one occasion, and observed that 
it was black, with yellow bands. 
Moss, however, is the favourite material of the Carder 
Bees, and wherever it can be obtained, they will use no 
other substance, though in places where it is scarce, or 
not to be found, they employ leaves, grass, or any other 
suitable material. Whatever may be the material, the 
Bee always takes great pains to disentangle the fibres, in 
order to be able to weave them in a systematic manner 
into the nest. This process is conducted by means of the 
legs, the Bee seizing the fibre with her fore-feet, and pass- 
ing it under her body by means of the remaining pairs 
of legs, forming it, as she does so, into a small bundle 
which can be easily carried off. 
The object of the moss and other substances is very 
simple. The Carder Bees do not build their nests, like 
those of many Humble Bees, beneath the surface of the 
ground, but upon it choosing a spot where there is a slight 
hollow of an inch or two in depth. The moss is then woven 
so as to form a domed cover to the cells, this dome being 
of variable dimensions, according to the number of cells 
which it covers, but seldom reaching more than three or 
four inches in height above the ground. As in very rainy 
weather this mossy dome would not be waterproof, the 
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