Movimbe.- 

 3 9 &»; 



RAVMKNT, PlWfrJ /'hiMu mi Hufiitiut' ifr?4 101 



W&Yj I can follow the shafts lo their utmost extremities and mic 

 every detail, cells, puddings, eggfe, larvae, everything! 



Hrm shall ] mark the precious nests so arduously delected, and 

 so laden with promise for 1hc Iiunre? Ft is essentia! foi me lo iden- 

 tify, not only every shaft, but also each bee that (i&es it. Well, I hilM* 

 tin hand a number ui roofing nails, the large heads u£ which had been 

 previously painted in various colours, and given numbers. I press 

 down into the grn$s a nail tor every Oiait, and prepare a diagram 

 after triangulating their relative positions. 



I am highly satisfied; I face the new investigations with renewed 

 pleasure and hope, and I return to the sea -shore to other woik 

 •'.waking- my attention, A week later finds mc hack in Dandenong. 

 The weather 15 fine, and i am eager to pick up] once ap;am The threads 

 of the research fu the biology of chloralictine bee-.-., 1 luirrv out onm 

 the lawn , it 1$ as green and rinse-shaven as e\er But acme Sltfttl? 

 change ha$ taken place, one difficult for me to contemplate, even 

 nail has been meticulously removed. Al;n-t The colonics are gone' 



My host is no less concerned over my loss. He questions the gar- 

 deners Yrs. one man is obviously perplexed. "Who an earth/* he 

 asks, "would do such a miserable trick as to sow the lawn with nails 

 to blunt the mower?" Nevertheless, the damage U dotlc. The shafts 

 arc lost for winter. 3nd my season's patient searching bad been 

 altogether in vain. I ]eave the blue Dandenongs bemud me; I am 

 frustrated, and unhappy. 



However, there comes a day in spi nig wdie.n my assistant and I 

 are indeed successful, and we locate most of the colonies again. Then 

 follows the critical investigation, and its surprising results. BtK 

 Dandenong is a long way from home, and I ponder over the expense 

 and loss of time involved in the study. "Would it be possible/' i 

 dream, "to force, train, or deceive wild bees into establishing colonies 

 nearer home?" Well, it has never been dune, before., but is that a 

 valid reason for my not attempting if j I already know the exact 

 depth, contour* and diameter of the >hafis, and at length find a 

 similar tough ground in the lawn of Miss 1 . Young, at Toorak 



In the depth of winter, and while die fcefts are still hibernating, I 

 make shafts in her lawn, of the: exact size ami contour, and transfer 

 to them pupae obtained from Dandenong. My experiments succeed 

 beyond my utmost" expectations, Not only have 1 colonies e>lihli--.hcd 

 in a convenient location, but I have gained an assistant wlwj has 

 vohmteercd to observe them daily and keep a written tecord The 

 lady's vigil extends over nearly three years, the longest continuous 

 observation of a species recorded in the literature of the science. 

 Here is rhr order 1 if the amazing generation."-: 



In spr ing, a brood of virgin females emerge ; all have a green head 

 and thorax and apricot -coloured abdomen There is not a nwlr 

 amongst them, and the virgins will remain in the parental home 

 because there is no sexual urge to call them forth. [The \\orker- 



