. Eyes and no eyes. ime, and, if one below is ready sooner than theothers, she eats through the cover of her cell andtries to push past her neighbour. But if the oneabove is so big that the bee cannot get by withouthurting her, she waits patiently till all are ready. Another little bee which you may often find isthe Sleeper bee (2, p. 51), so-called because sheoften sleeps in the blossoms of-flowers, where youmay find her. She is thin and black with a squarehead and strong jaws, and she has a little yellowdown on her hind body or abdomen. She tooburrows in posts, but very often she makes herne
. Eyes and no eyes. ime, and, if one below is ready sooner than theothers, she eats through the cover of her cell andtries to push past her neighbour. But if the oneabove is so big that the bee cannot get by withouthurting her, she waits patiently till all are ready. Another little bee which you may often find isthe Sleeper bee (2, p. 51), so-called because sheoften sleeps in the blossoms of-flowers, where youmay find her. She is thin and black with a squarehead and strong jaws, and she has a little yellowdown on her hind body or abdomen. She tooburrows in posts, but very often she makes hernest inside a large stra^v. In olden days, whencottages were thatched, hundreds of these beeswould build in the larger straws of the thatch, andmight be heard buzzing abovit the roof. Then there is another bee which you cannothelp finding. This is the Leaf-cutting bee (3,p. 51). Have you not seen the leaves of rose-treeswith pieces like a half-moon cut out of their edge ?If you watch you may see a bee doing this SOLITARY BEES. j\. Osmia Uees. 3. LeafcutUiig Bee. I. Sleeper Bee. 4. Carder Bee. SOLITARY BEES. 53 She is about the same size as a hive-bee, butrather stouter, and her bod}^ is black with soft bro^vnhairs over it. She clings to the leaf and turnsround in a circle bitingas she goes. Just beforeshe has finished sheopens her ^vings and sobalances herself in theair. Then, when thelast bite is made, sheflies off with the pieceof leaf carried be-tween her feet and herjaws. She goes to a hole inthe ground, which isstraight down for a littleway, and then turns, andruns along under the sur-face. Here she packs theleaf in and goes back formore. With severalpieces she makes a littlethimble, in which she laysan egg, with food roundit, and closes it withthree or four i-oundpieces. Then she begins another thimble, pushingit in, so that it fits a little way into the last this way she builds about seven cells, each withits egg and bee-bread, for the grubs to feed on tillth
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