668 



THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



torn of this tunnel. For this purpose it cuts from the 

 leaves oblong pieces, each of which forms a part of a side 

 and the bottom of the thimble-shaped tube. Two such 

 pieces had been cut from the lower leaf on the left side of 

 the spray figured here. When the thimble-shaped tube is 

 completed, the bee partially fills it with a paste of pollen 

 and nectar, and then places an ^^^ upon the supply of food. 

 She then cuts several circular pieces of leaves, the diameter 



Fig. 796.— a leaf-cutter bee, nest, and rose-leaves cut by the bee. 



of which is a little greater than the diameter of the tube, and 

 forces them into the open end of it, thus making a tightly- 

 fitting plug ; three of these circular pieces had been cut from 

 the spray figured. Usually several cells of this kind are 

 placed end to end in a burrow ; and sometimes many bees will 

 build their nests near together in the same piece of wood. 

 The leaf-cutter bees do not always bore tunnels in which 



