276 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
the hornet is the queerest of all known carpenters. 
She builds her roof first, and follows with the 
attic, upper and lower stories, and last of all the 
basement! First Queen Baldface applied a lib¬ 
eral coat of glue in the shape of her ever useful 
saliva. Then came a paper cable laid bit by bit, 
about half an inch in length and as thick as a 
good stout darning needle. Upon this was hung 
a ball-shaped house of paper, about the size of a 
hen’s egg, with a small hole at the bottom to serve 
as a door. Then, without pause or rest, the fur¬ 
nishing was begun. Of course, as the door was 
too small and the interior darker than a pocket, 
I could not follow matters there very well. But 
I knew from the examination of old nests, that 
she packed the place as full of cradles as they 
could stand, and in each one she put a tiny egg. 
“ It was surprising, too, how soon the little 
family appeared. Short, indeed, was the brief 
rest allotted the queen mother. But doubtless 
she was glad to have it so. The season would be 
all too brief to build the house of her dreams, and 
leave behind a satisfactory contribution to the 
hornet race. How she worked those first few 
days, gathering food for the ten or a dozen 
hungry mouths! And her temper was peppery 
to a degree! I ventured an offering of fruit juice 
in an old can, with the idea of relieving her tire¬ 
some trips to the strawberry field and raspberry 
