THE HUMBLE BEE. 
89 
find a deserted mouse-hole, they ^ immediately 
appropriate it to their own use, and fit it up with 
all the skill of bee architecture. If no such nest 
readj'-made is to be found, they dig one with 
great industry, and, considering their size, in a 
very short time. They seem to prefer meadows 
or plains for their nests, and excavate the ground 
to a depth of one or perhaps two feet. These 
houses are large, arched at the top, or dome- 
shaped, and more wide than high. The mate- 
rials used are earth and moss, which are most 
ingeniously worked into the proper shapes and 
positions, and the interior cells are carefully 
lined with an inferior kind of wax. The en- 
trance is sometimes a simple opening at the 
lower part, though perhaps more generally a 
winding, moss-covered passage-way, built as if 
to guard against intruders or enemies. The bot- 
tom of the nest is carpeted with leaves, which the 
industrious insects have carried there ; and on 
these arc placed irregular masses of brown wax, 
which in time is made into cells for the young. 
The humble bees are of three kinds: the females, 
which are the largest ; the males, which are the 
