72 
Psyche 
[June 
11:01'. More bees arrive from fields. Very much excited. 
11:03':30 .Another finds an entrance. Four others rush to 
the spot. These enter in succession, the one behind quite close 
upon the abdomen of its predecessor. Sand closes over the last 
bee. 
11:06'. Still seven left out unable to find an entrance. 
11 :08':15 . Another bee finds an entrance. Two more 
follow it closely. Sand closes over last. 
11:10'. Remaining bees enter nest in like manner. En- 
trances to nests are as well concealed as ever. 
11:14':50 ,/ . A bee comes out, head first. Flies away. 
11:15':30 ,/ . Returns and enters nest as before. Backs up 
tunnel pushing mound of sand up over the entrance with its 
abdomen. 
11:18':15 // . Pushes sand up again. Repeats several times. 
11:21':30 ,/ . Entrance now free of sand. Bee continues 
backing up tunnel. Several bees leave the nest by another en- 
trance. 
The bee does not come directly to the nest from the fields. 
It will first alight on a rock, a few meters away. Here it will 
remain quiet for a minute or two, and presently fly on to alight 
a meter or so nearer the nest. Perhaps it will pass over the nest 
two or three times in this manner. Finally, after having alighted 
several times, it will fly directly to the entrance, hover over it 
for a moment, and enter. This probably serves to deceive any 
parasites which may attempt to follow it to the nest. 
This species undoubtedly builds its own nest. This is com- 
posed of numerous tunnelways leading down from the surface 
of the stone for a distance of about 7 to 10 cm. (3 to 4 inches). 
From these several more or less horizontal galleries branch off 
leading to the cells for the reception of the future generations. 
The tunnels from several entrances often join one another at 
varying distances beneath the surface. Hence a nest may have 
several entrances. In Fig. 1, four entrances are shown. Three 
of these were close together and the fourth was about 20 cm. (8 
inches) away. The vertical depth was about 7.5 cm. (3 inches). 
Most of the passageways were in about the same plane suggest- 
