320 
HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
Fig. 250. 
Fig. 249. 
syringa stem containing the cells of this bee, separated at 
regular intervals by little parchment partitions, the spaces 
between them being filled with dirt. 
The cells are filled by the parent bee 
with pollen, a store of food for the 
grub. 
A great step in advance is the home 
of the carpenter bee (Fig. 
250), which is bored in 
solid pine wood or even 
hard wood, sometimes for 
a foot or more. The work 
is done by the jaws of the 
bee, and the hole is bored 
as evenly as by an auger. 
After boring the hole, it 
is partitioned off by chip 
walls, a pellet of pollen 
on which the larva feeds 
having been previously 
placed in each cell. Here 
is a specimen of mechani¬ 
cal ingenuity and architec¬ 
tural skill which is cer¬ 
tainly surprising, and in¬ 
dicates some forethought 
Nest of and a certain degree of 
Ceratina. . 
reasoning power. 
In the succeeding chapter the nests 
of the social wasps and bees will be 
noticed, as the high degree of archi¬ 
tectural skill shown by these insects is intimately related 
with the complex economy of the colony. 
Nest of Carpenter Bee. 
32 
