AN INSECT CARPENTER 283 
was about. Her methods were those of the den¬ 
tist who roughens the inside of a tooth to make 
the filling stick. The carefully prepared pulp 
was intended for cradles and partitions, and she 
knew very well that there would be small chance 
of making it stick to a smooth surface. 
“ How I longed to peep inside when she actu¬ 
ally did get at the furnishings! But instead I 
came home and consulted Uncle John. He says 
the hornet is a mason as well as a carpenter. 
Once her walls are ready, she carefully plasters 
them with her wood pulp mixture, which is 
thoroughly water-proof. Then the cradles are 
built in, following the usual hexagon, or six-sided 
pattern of Beedom. Always the small cells are 
arranged tier on tier, with the mouths either open¬ 
ing downward or sideways. A person standing 
beneath the cells and looking upward could see 
directly into the cradles. This is extremely 
handy for the nurses, but it means, of course, that 
the cradles are always turned upside down! ” 
“ Goodness me! ” ejaculated Alice. “ How do 
the babies stay in? ” 
“ Just what I queried,” laughed Tommy. 
“ But the little hornet mother is quite equal to the 
problem. In the first place, her eggs are glued 
fast; then, when the little grub hatches, it clings 
to the shell by its tail, and cranes its neck out to 
be fed. The mother is nurse only until she raises 
