THE MASON BEE.
TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —My attention was called this morning to some small clay deposits on one of the buildings in this town, and a complaint made of the nuisance. Many, probably, of the readers of your paper may not be aware of the cause of these deposits and their uses. They are the work of the mason bee, a small active insect, of dark steel color, who preys on spiders. They build cells after the bee and wasp method, catch spiders and place them in these cells by some process of which they themselves are alone apparently aware. They deposit their eggs in the bodies of the
spiders, and the young are hatched in due course, and feed on the imolated spider, and speedily break through the clay cell to reproduce the same system. The spiders remain torpid—not dead—during the time of incubation. Those who dislike cobwebs will take care not to destroy the cells of the mason bee.—l am, <fcc., Observer.
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Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 66, 14 February 1884, Page 2
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166THE MASON BEE. Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 66, 14 February 1884, Page 2
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