regard to quality, for the main object which I had in view. They came
from the nearest house, separated from mine by a little field planted
with corn and olive-trees. I had reason to fear that the insects
issuing from those nests might be hereditarily influenced by their
ancestors, who had lived in the shed for many a long year. The Bee,
when carried to a distance, would perhaps come back, guided by the
inveterate family habit; she would find the shed of her lineal
predecessors and thence, without difficulty, reach her nest. As it is
the fashion nowadays to assign a prominent part to these hereditary
influences, I must eliminate them from my experiments. I want strange
Bees, brought from afar, whose return to the place of their birth can
in no way assist their return to the nest transplanted to another
site.

Favier took the business in hand. He had discovered on the banks of
the Aygues, at some miles from the village, a deserted hut where the
Mason-bees had established themselves in a numerous colony. He
proposed to take the wheelbarrow, in which to move the blocks of
cells; but I objected: the jolting of the vehicle over the rough paths
might jeopardise the contents of the cells. A basket carried on the
shoulder was deemed safer. Favier took a man to help him and set out.
The expedition provided me with four well-stocked tiles. It was all
that the two men were able to carry between them; and even then I had
to stand treat on their arrival: they were utterly exhausted. Le
Vaillant tells us of a nest of Republicans (Social Weaver-birds.--
Translator's Note.) with which he loaded a wagon drawn by two oxen. My
Mason-bee vies with the South-African bird: a yoke of Oxen would not
have been too many to move the whole of that nest from the banks of
the Aygues.