THE LAPIDARY BEE. 
109 
with a riel) -colored food made of pollen and honey 
collected from flowers of the thistle. Upon this 
the bee lays her egg, and covers in the whole 
with three more pieces of leaf, cut in a circle as 
accurate as if marked with compasses. Above 
this cover there is sufficient room left for the in- 
sertion of the next cell ; and so the leaf-cutter goes 
on with her work until her little nursery is com- 
pletely fitted up. 
Can we cease to wonder at the skill and inge- 
nuity of the bee? And do we not see that God’s 
beautiful creation is full of interest to us, — that the 
more we study it, the more is our admiration ex- 
cited ! 
The Lapidary Bee. 
Boys who have been on farms, and observed 
the heaps of stones which have been gathered 
from the fields, have doubtless seen the lapidary 
bee ; for it is in such stone heaps as these that 
they love to build their nests. It carries thither 
bits of moss collected from the field, and constructs 
a neat little nest of a regular oval shape. The 
bees all share in the work, and make honey witli 
great industry. If any of the readers of this book 
