Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/249

Rh and now dispersing, each seeks a residence for herself, where she may become the foundress of a new community. Having pitched upon a convenient spot, the laborious insect proceeds to excavate first the passage or gallery, then the nest itself, detaching the soil, as it were, grain by grain; she seizes the molecule with the first pair of legs, transfers it instantly to the second, receives it next with the third, and finally pushes it as far as possible behind her. These excavations, situated often above a foot under the surface, are wholly the work of the solitary female. Sometimes, however, the nest is made close to, or even upon the surface when partially hollow, and covered with dry moss; but this is not the usual mode pursued by this species, and in such localities the colony is far less numerous than when at a greater depth.

Having finished the excavation, and carpeted her new dwelling with soft leaves, &c. the insect proceeds to construct brood cells. The wax of which these are formed is secreted, as in the domestic bee, in certain receptacles placed on each side of the middle process of the abdominal scales, and is extracted by the bee in the form of laminæ, moulded to the shape of the insect's body. Unlike the Queen of the hive bees, the mother-bee of this family possesses these wax-secreting organs as well as the workers, and produces the substance in greater quantity than her progeny. The interior of the humble-bee nest (Pl. XV.) presents a striking contrast to that of the honey-bee