1944 J Habits of Osmia 163 
for we have seen it so often in various species that we take for 
granted that insects generally are masters of the situation men- 
tioned. 
Storage of bee-bread proceeds with our Osmia in a different 
manner from that described by Fabre for O. tridentata. This 
French species places the honey in the center and surrounds it 
with pollen; the outer mass remaining dry. The egg is laid in 
the central portion, where the newly hatched grub first comes 
upon it: “for the new-born, dainty bread and honey; for the 
adolescent, just plain dry bread.” (2) 
Not so with the Connecticut Osmia observed by us — her 
offspring receive bread and honey, thoroughly mixed, through- 
out their larval life. This follows of necessity from the manner 
in which the bee applies the honey and the pollen on each and 
every trip. Entering the nest head-first on her return from a 
foraging expedition, she proceeds at once to the bottom of the 
cell and smears the regurgitated honey initially over the parti- 
tion just built, then on the growing mass of provender. The 
deposition of honey requires much longer than one might ex- 
pect, a fact discovered in viewing scenes in the motion pic- 
ture. 
The honey thus applied provides a sticky surface suitable for 
holding the dry pollen brushed over it. After turning around in 
the manner indicated above, the bee backs down the nest as far 
as possible and scrapes the pollen from her abdomen with her 
hind legs, a procedure which engages her about as long as the 
deposition of the honey. Thirty-five to forty trips were counted 
several times (by C. R.) for the storage of a single cell. 
To lay the egg the bee backs in and touches the bee-bread 
with her abdomen. After numerous abdominal contractions 
(on which the breathing movements are superposed, as in the 
case of Trypoxylon and Odynerus) the relatively large egg is 
expelled and stuck by one end to the mass of provender. 
Leaf pulp is used for building the partitions and closing the 
nest. As witnessed on several occasions by the younger mem- 
bers of the party, the bee scrapes the material from the upper 
surface of leaves, rolling it (doubtless mixed with glandular 
secretion as cement) into the usual rounded pellet for ease of 
carrying. Front legs and mandibles constitute the tools after 
the manner of most hymenopteran artisans; but one gets the 
impression from the way the bee doubles up around the struc- 
