THE WORST BEE-ENEMIES. 167 



than others, therefore their nests look more rough and 

 uneven; sometimes in a large nest we notice the paper of 

 several shades of colour — 'this is because it has been put 

 together by many different labourers, using several different 

 kinds of materials. Let us closely watch that sharp little 

 fellow on an old decaying rail; stand perfectly still, and 

 he will fearlessly labour close to your face. It scrapes 

 away bit by bit, seldom moving more than an inch from 

 the place selected, until it has rolled up a good-sized 

 pellet, then grasps it in its strong mandibles (jaws), and 

 flies away to its nest. Having arrived (if it luckily escapes 

 the hungry bird) at its domicile, it retires to rest for a 

 little while — not for long, however, as time seems to be 

 precious. Then we observe it with a pellet of wood, with 

 its legs astride the outer margin, unrolling it carefully ; as 

 it unrolls it is firmly flattened or pressed, and glued down : 

 then it rapidly goes over its work again and again, putting 

 a touch here, and adding a little fresh saliva there, until it 

 seems satisfied with its work. This process is repeated 

 day by day until the nest is completed. 



The foundation of the nest is laid by a solitary (we 

 might say lonely) queen. After she has laboured several 

 days the structure looks like a tiny umbrella; an appro- 

 priate name would be " the fairies' parasol." Let us not 

 forget the fact, when tempted to destroy "the horrid 

 yellow things " of nervous people : she builds the home, 

 lays the eggs, which are fastened securely to the bottom of 

 the cell, and, when these begin to hatch, she has to feed 

 them as well as to carry on the task of building. 



Not only are wasps enemies to the honey-bee, but the 



, gardener often finds that, if not watched most carefully, 



they will make sad havoc among his juicy wall-fruits. 



However, they do some little good by preying upon 



the thousands of aphides which sometimes overrun our 



