out of the way: we see it daily; but cutting her
throat in order to empty her stomach is going beyond a joke. And, as
the Bees packed away in the cellar are squeezed dry just as much as the
others, the thought occurs to my mind that a rumpsteak with jam is not
to everybody's liking and that the game stuffed with honey might well be
a distasteful or even unwholesome dish for the Philanthus' larvae. What
will the grub do when, sated with blood and meat, it finds the Bee's
honey-bag under its mandibles and especially when, nibbling at random,
it rips open the crop and spoils its venison with syrup? Will it thrive
on the mixture? Will the little ogre pass without repugnance from the
gamy flavour of a carcase to the scent of flowers? A blunt statement or
denial would serve no purpose. We must see. Let us see.

I rear some young Philanthus-grubs, already waxing large; but, instead
of supplying them with the prey taken from the burrows, I give them game
of my own catching, game replete with nectar from the rosemaries. My
Bees, whom I kill by crushing their heads, are readily accepted; and
I at first see nothing that corresponds with my suspicions. Then my
nurselings languish, disdain their food, give a careless bite here and
there and end by perishing, from the first to the last, beside their
unfinished victuals. All my attempts miscarry: I do not once succeed in
rearing my larvae to the stage of spinning the cocoon. And yet I am no
novice in the functions of a foster-father. How many pupils have not
passed through my hands and reached maturity in my old sardine-boxes as
comfortably as in their natural burrows!

I will not draw rash conclusions from this check; I am conscientious
enough to ascribe it to another cause. It may be that the atmosphere
of my study and the dryness of the sand serving as a bed have had a
bad effect on my charges, whose tender skins are accustomed to the warm
moisture of the subsoil. Let us therefore try another expedient.

It is hardly feasible to decide positively by the methods which I have
been following whether the honey is or is not repugnant to the grubs of
the Philanthus. The first mouthfuls consist of meat; and then nothing
particular occurs: it is the natural diet. The honey is met with later,
when the morsel has been largely bitten into. If hesitation and lack of
appetite are displayed at this stage, they come too late in the day
to be conclusive: the larva's discomfort may be due to other