THE UPHOLSTERER BEE. 
105 
The nest is generally about three inches deep, 
gradually widening as it descends, and shaped 
like a bottle. The inside is smooth, uniform, and 
polished. The bee adorns her house with scar- 
let drapery. Selecting the scarlet field-poppy, 
she cuts off small oval pieces, seizes them be- 
tween her legs, and conveys them to the nest. 
She first spreads a carpet on the floor, three or 
four leaves in thickness, and covers the walls 
with the brilliant curtains never less than two 
leaves in thickness, and often more. If she has 
brought a piece of leaf too large for the place, she 
neatly trims and cuts it down, and spreads the 
pieces as smoothly as glass. We should find it 
very difficult to cut a poppy-leaf as smooth with 
scissors as the bee with its delicate instruments. 
After the bee has hung her little chamber with 
this elegant scarlet tapestry, and has extended the 
decorations even beyond the entrance, she fills it 
with the pollen of flowers, mixed with honey to 
• the depth of half an inch. In this store of pro- 
visions she lays an egg, and over it folds down 
the tapestry of poppy leaves from above. The 
upper part is then filled with earth. 
