7. osmia. 149 



and tubes ready formed which would appear to be admirably adapted 

 to the purposes of the bee ; for instance, the straws of a thatch and 

 many reeds ; and what could be more admirably adapted to their 

 requirements than the tubes of many shells ? So thinks the bee ! 

 0. rufa, 0. aurulenta, and 0. bicoJor all select the shells of Helix 

 hortensis, H. nemoralis, or of H. pomatia. The shells of these snails 

 often lie hidden beneath grass, mosses, and plants ; the bees finding 

 them in such situations, dispense with their accustomed labour and 

 take possession of the deserted shells. The number of cells varies 

 according to the length and diameter of the whorl of the shell 

 selected, the usual number being four ; but in some instances they 

 construct five or six ; and when the bee takes possession of the shell of 

 H. jpomatia, as I have already mentioned, the number is considerably 

 increased. When the bee has completed and provisioned the cells, the 

 whole is carefully protected by closing up the entrance or mouth of 

 the shell with small pellets of clay, sticks, and pebbles ; these are 

 firmly cemented together with some glutinous matter, and the bee 

 has finished her task. 



We will now observe the intelligence of the bee under different 

 circumstances : she has selected the adult shell of Helix aspera ; the 

 whorl of this species is greater in diameter than that of H. nemo- 

 ralis or of H. hortensis — too wide, in fact, for a single cell. Our little 

 architect, never at a loss, readily adapts it to her purpose by forming 

 two cells side by side ; and as she advances towards the entrance of 

 the whorl it becomes too wide even for this contrivance. Here let 

 us admire the ingenuity of the little creature ; she constructs a couple 

 of cells transversely ! And this is the little animal which has been 

 so blindly slandered as being a mere machine. 



I will take this opportunity of correcting a very widely diffused 

 error, which appears to have originated with Reaumur ; or, if his 

 account of the development of Xylocopa be correct, it differs from 

 that of every wood-boring bee in this country. He says, " When 

 the larva assumes the pupa it is placed in its cell with its head down- 

 wards, — a very wise precaution ; for thus it is prevented, when it has 

 attained to its perfect state and is eager to emerge into day, from 

 making its way upwards and disturbing the tenants of the super- 

 incumbent cells, who being of later date, each than its neighbour be- 

 low stairs, are not yet quite ready to go into public." Mr. Kirby also 

 quotes from a letter by the Rev. George Ashby, who, after describing 

 the nest of Megachile centuncularis, says, "The lowest and first 

 born passes out through the bottom of its own (lowest) cell, and so 

 escapes without disturbing the rest, who are not yet ready to emi- 

 grate." But all such conclusions originate, in my opinion, in con- 

 jecture. In the case of bees constructing their cells in the spiral tube 

 of a snail's shell, where is the possibility of escape ? And I have 

 been informed that species of Xyclocopa, in India, very commonly 

 make use of bamboo-sticks used in making fences in which to con^ 

 struct their cells, and that no outlet can be found except at the 

 entrance to the tube. Bees that form tunnels in sandbanks never 

 have more than one outlet to their nests, When Chelostoma florid 



