way in the maze of the forest? It is safer not to give an opinion:
other causes intervened which may have decreased the number of those
who returned. I marked the insects at the starting-place; I handled
them; and I am not prepared to say that they were all in the best of
condition on leaving my stung and smarting fingers. Besides, the sky
has become overcast, a storm is imminent. In the month of May, so
variable, so fickle, in my part of the world, we can hardly ever count
on a whole day of fine weather. A splendid morning is swiftly followed
by a fitful afternoon; and my experiments with Mason-bees have often
suffered by these variations. All things considered, I am inclined to
think that the homeward journey across the forest and the mountain is
effected just as readily as across the corn-fields and the plain.

I have one last resource left whereby to try and put my Bees out of
their latitude. I will first take them to a great distance; then,
describing a wide curve, I will return by another road and release my
captives when I am near enough to the village, say, about two miles. A
conveyance is necessary, this time. My collaborator of the day in the
woods offers me the use of his gig. The two of us set off, with
fifteen Mason-bees, along the road to Orange, until we come to the
viaduct. Here, on the right, is the straight ribbon of the old Roman
road, the Via Domitia. We take it, driving north towards the Uchaux
Mountains, the classic home of superb Turonian fossils. We next turn
back towards Serignan, by the Piolenc Road. A halt is made by the
stretch of country known as Font-Claire, the distance from which to
the village is about one mile and five furlongs. The reader can easily
follow my route on the ordnance-survey map; and he will see that the
loop described measures not far short of five miles and a half.

At the same time, Favier came and joined me at Font-Claire, by the