TAPESTRY BEE. 279 
certainly watch the rose trees very closely, 
in hopes of seeing this clever little crea^ 
ture at work. Do all the leaf-cutter bees 
make their nests in the same way ? 
Mother. They select different places 
for their nests, some choosing the trunks 
of old trees, and others the posts used 
in paling, which they completely perfo- 
rate. Another species of this industrious 
tribe, the apis papaneris^^ a native of 
France, has been called the tapes try bee, 
because the floor and walls of its nests 
are lined with scarlet hangings. 
Lucy, It probably spins a kind of 
scarlet silk. 
Mother. No, they are made with 
the petals of the scarlet field poppy 
flower, which she cuts into oval pieces, 
and carries one by one in her claws ; if 
they are crumpled, in the subterraneous 
passage to her dwelling, she stretches 
and smooths them neatly with her little 
* From Papaver, a poppy. 
