rcome? Can the Mason-bees have lost their 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
direct road, the one that runs through Piolenc. He brought with him
fifteen Mason-bees, intended for purposes of comparison with mine. I am
therefore in possession of two sets of insects. Fifteen, marked in pink,
have taken the five-mile bend; fifteen, marked in blue, have come by the
straight road, the shortest road for returning to the nest. The weather
is warm, exceedingly bright and very calm; I could not hope for a better
day for my experiment. The insects are given their freedom at mid-day.

At