. Natural history; or, Uncle Philip's conversations with the children about tools and trades among inferior animals . alled the mason-bee. Thiskind builds his nest of mortar, and was there-fore called the mason-bee by Mr. Reaumurfirst, I believe. Where does it get the mortar, UnclePhilip ? It makes it, boys. This kind of bee maybe seen flying about, picking up sand, grainby grain, putting it into a heap, gluing themtogether with a sort of gum out of her ownmouth, and building with them a foundationfor her house. This little workman commonlybuilds against the side of a wall between twobricks wh
. Natural history; or, Uncle Philip's conversations with the children about tools and trades among inferior animals . alled the mason-bee. Thiskind builds his nest of mortar, and was there-fore called the mason-bee by Mr. Reaumurfirst, I believe. Where does it get the mortar, UnclePhilip ? It makes it, boys. This kind of bee maybe seen flying about, picking up sand, grainby grain, putting it into a heap, gluing themtogether with a sort of gum out of her ownmouth, and building with them a foundationfor her house. This little workman commonlybuilds against the side of a wall between twobricks where the mortar has fallen out; andif you should see one of the nests, it appearsexactly like a lump of dry mud which hasbeen thrown wet upon the wall out of a cart-rut : but when you examine it closely, youmay see a great many small stones in it, morethan is common in mud: a hundred people,though, might pass by it, and never think itwas any thing more than a lump of dirt, which 68 CONVERSATIONS ON had been thrown upon the wall when it waswet, and had afterward dried there. Here isa picture of one of these Exterior wall of Mason-bees Nest. You see there is a small hole in it; this leadsto a cell inside about an inch deep, and shapedexactly like a ladys thimble; the inside ofthis cell is polished smooth, and appears likea wall of plaster, except that it has little yel-low stains upon it. Here is the bee thatmakes it.
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Keywords: ., bookaut, bookcentury1800, booksubjectnaturalhistory, bookyear1835
