Chapter 5 Plasterer bee

1. Choose the place to build a house There are many kinds of insects that like to build their nests next to our house. Among these insects, the one that attracts people's interest the most is the animal called the wasp.why?The main reason is that the wasp has a very beautiful and moving figure, a very smart mind, and one thing that should be noted is its very strange nest.However, there are very few people who know about small insects such as the wasp.Sometimes, they even live next to the stove of a family, but the family doesn't know anything about this little neighbor.why?Mainly because of its inherent, quiet, and peaceful nature.Indeed, this little thing lived in such a secluded place that it was difficult to attract people's attention.Therefore, even its own owner does not know that it lives in its own home, and it can be regarded as one of its own members.However, human beings who hate noise and are particularly afraid of trouble, compared with these small animals with strong concealment, it is easy to achieve it if they want to make it famous.Now, let me lift this humble, obscure little creature from obscurity!

The wasp is a kind of animal that is very afraid of cold.It pitches its own tent, where it helps the olive tree to thrive, and encourages the cicada to build its happy abode in the light of the singing sun.Sometimes, for the needs of their entire family, in order to make everyone feel warmer and more comfortable than in the sun, they often come to our human door and ask to be with us.Instead of knocking on people's doors and asking the owner if they agree to live with everyone under the same roof, they make their own decisions, move in with their families, and settle down to enjoy life.The usual dwelling place of the wasp is mainly the individual huts of some farmers.Outside the door of the thatched hut, there are mostly tall and straight fig trees growing.The shade of these fruit trees shades a small well.In deciding its dwelling place, the wasp will mainly choose a place that will be exposed to the summer heat and, if possible, have a larger stove and a Some firewood that can be used for burning, these conditions are necessary and indispensable for the sarcoid bee.This is determined by its nature.On a cold winter night, the extremely warm flame ejected from the stove has a very important influence on its choice.Therefore, whenever they see the black charcoal coming out of the chimney, the bees will be ecstatic, because they know that there is a place to consider.For there will be the warmth and comfort it needs.But, on the contrary, if there is no black charcoal in the chimney, then it will never trust such a place, and it will never choose such a place to build its own home.Because the wasp will use its mind to make judgments, the owners of the house must be enduring the miserable situation of hunger and cold.

During the hot weather in July and August, this little visitor suddenly appeared.It is looking for a suitable place for its nest.The Waist Bee was not at all alarmed and disturbed by all the noisy behavior in this room.And the people who live in the house don't notice it at all.Neither of them noticed each other, so they didn't interfere with each other.The wasp only sometimes uses its sharp eyes, and sometimes uses its sensitive tentacles to inspect the blackened ceiling, wooden cracks, chimneys, etc.However, it is especially near the stove that gets its attention.This is where it never lets go easily.It even has to inspect the inside of the chimney carefully.It is a meticulous little animal, and once the inspection work has been completed and the site for nesting has been decided, they fly away immediately.Then, shortly after, it flies back with a small amount of dirt and starts building the ground floor of its house.Thus, the work of building a home officially broke ground.

It is also a very strange feature that the sites chosen by the scorpion bees are different.The temperature inside the furnace is the most suitable for the little bees, so the favorite place for the bees must be at least on both sides of the inside of the chimney, at a height of about twenty inches or so.However, although this spot can be said to be a very comfortable hiding place, there is no perfect thing in the world, and it has quite a few shortcomings.Since the nest is built inside the chimney, there will naturally be smoke in it.If the smoke is sprayed on the hive, the wasps in the hive will be "polluted" and will be turned brown or black, just like the smoked bricks in the chimney.If the flame in the furnace does not reach the hive, that is not a matter of the utmost importance.The most important thing is that the little wasp can be suffocated in the clay pot.Don't worry about them, though, their mother seems to have known these things already, because the mother always put her own family in its proper place in the chimney.Their chosen location is very generous.In that place, anything other than soot is hard to reach.

Although the Waist Bee is careful in everything, careful and prudent at all times.But "a wise man is bound to make mistakes if he thinks a lot."It is so earnest, but there is still a very dangerous thing waiting for them.This sometimes happens, that is, when the wasp is building its house, if at this critical moment, there is a burst of steam or smoke, then half of the house it has just built will be destroyed. Had to give up halfway.So they either stop working for a while, or stop working all day.Especially in the days when the owner of the house is cooking and washing clothes, this kind of thing is most likely to happen, and the danger is also the greatest.From morning to night, the big pot kept boiling, the soot in the stove, the large amount of steam in the big pot and the wooden barrel, mixed together to form a thick cloud.This poses a serious threat to the hive.At this time, the waist-sharpening bee will face the danger of family destruction.

I have heard people say before that river birds always fly over the big waterfall under the dam when they return to their nests.It sounds like the river bird is already considered a rather courageous and gutsy little animal.However, compared with it, the waist wasp does not show any weakness, and even its bravery has surpassed that of the river bird.When it returns to its nest, it always holds a piece of soil between its teeth that was used to build its nest.To reach its construction site, it had to traverse through thick clouds of soot.However, that layer of smoke was simply too thick, and after the Waist Bee rushed in, it couldn't see its small figure at all.Although its small body could not be seen, an irregular whining sound could be heard.What is this sound?It wasn't any other sound, it was the song it was crooning as it worked.Therefore, we can conclude that the wasp is definitely still inside, and it is very happy, happily engaged in its own job, building its own dwelling tirelessly.It can be seen that it is satisfied with its labor and is willing to do it. In this thick layer of cloud, it is doing its own work mysteriously.Suddenly, the low-grade labor song stopped.After a while it flew out, out of the mysterious thick fog, and it was safe and sound, without any injuries.After all, this is its instinct!Almost every day, it has to go through this very dangerous thing many times, until it finally builds its nest, stores all the food, and finally closes the door of its own house.Then, it takes a break.This little thing has really worked so hard for his own homeland!

Each time, I was the only one who could see the wasp busy in my stove, building shelter and stocking food.This is probably because I am more careful.I remember the first time I saw them, it was when I was cooking and doing laundry one day.Originally, at that time, I was teaching at the college of Avignon.It was nearly two o'clock that day, and within a few minutes there would be a drum beating outside urging me to give a speech to the woolworkers.At this moment, suddenly, I saw a very strange and light insect.It flew through the steam rising from the barrel.The body of this little animal is very interesting, the middle part is very thin, but the rear part is very fat, and the two parts are connected by a long line.What a wonderful little thing!This little thing is the Waist Bee, and this is the first time I have not looked at it with an observational eye.So, there is a first impression.

After the first acquaintance, I have always expressed a very strong interest in this little guest in the family.I am very eager to get acquainted with this little guest and have some exchanges.So, I asked my family not to disturb them actively and destroy their normal life when I was not at home.See how I guard this uninvited visitor!Things have turned out better than I'd hoped for.When I got home I found it undisturbed at all and all in good health.It remained behind the steam, hard at work, toiled for its home.As I wished to observe the construction of the wasp, and its building talents, and the nature of its food, and the evolution and growth of the young wasp, etc., I extinguished the fire in the stove. .I do this mainly to reduce the amount of soot.For nearly two hours, I watched it very carefully.

However, since then, for some unknown reason, for almost forty years, there has never been such a small guest in my house, and I have never seen them at all.My further knowledge of the wasp was obtained from my neighbour's hive by the stove. Through careful observation, I found that this little animal has a very lonely and wandering habit.This makes it different from most other wasps, as well as bees.Under normal circumstances, it always chooses a good location and builds a particularly lonely nest by itself.At the same time, it is rare to see members and relatives of its own family in the place where the wasp feeds itself.This small animal can often be seen not far from the south of our city.But the little thing would rather choose the stoves of the soot-filled houses of the peasants for his little home than the stoves of the snow-white villas of the townspeople.Nowhere have I ever seen so many bees as in our village.At the same time, the houses in our village are very characteristic.The thatched huts in our village all have a certain slope, and the huts are all yellowed by the sun, which makes them look distinctive.

The fact is evident that the mason-bee has chosen chimneys for her abode.There is no doubt about this.However, the reason why it chooses such a place for itself does not mean that it is greedy for ease and enjoyment.Because, obviously, choosing such a place is not a particularly comfortable place.This kind of place needs this little animal to work harder and have better talents.Moreover, working in such a place is very dangerous.Because there are often dangerous situations, it is necessary to take certain risks, even life-threatening.From this point of view, to say that it chose the chimney to build its nest for its own comfort, would really have wronged our little guest greatly.It chooses such a place to build a nest, and its main intention is entirely for the sake of its entire family, not out of self-interest.It doesn't want to just be comfortable for itself, it should be for everyone to enjoy the happiness and comfort together, and that is what they really want to achieve.Therefore, it can be said that the wasp is still a family-loving animal with a strong sense of family responsibility.Of course, there is another very important reason for the choice of the chimney by the wasps, and that is that the wasps and their family members have relatively high temperature requirements. This is mainly due to instinct. Their residences must be built in very warm places. This is very different from other wasps and bees.

I remember visiting a silk factory once, where I saw a nest of the wasp.It built its nest in the engine room, and chose for itself a place on the ceiling just above the great boiler.It seems that it really has a unique eye!In the place it chose for itself, throughout the year, regardless of the cold or heat, or the changes of spring, summer, autumn and winter, the temperature displayed by the thermometer is always the same 120 degrees, except for the time of night and the temperature. those days off.Apparently there was no heating in the boiler on these days, so of course the temperature would vary accordingly.This fact clearly tells us that this little animal is really demanding on temperature!Moreover, it is also a guy who is very good at picking places for himself. Also, I have seen more than once many nests of wasps in the distilleries in the country.Moreover, all the places that can be chosen and convenient for them to live and move have been occupied by them.Even the places where the account books were piled up were occupied by them.The temperature in the distillery is not too different from the temperature in the silk factory just mentioned.About one hundred and thirteen degrees.These temperature words tell us again that this mason bee can even survive the heat that makes oil palm trees grow. From this point of view, the pot, as well as the stove, have naturally become the most ideal home and first choice for the Waist Bee.However, in addition to these premier places, the Waist Bee does not dislike some other alternative locations.It very much hopes to live in any corner that can make it feel comfortable and comfortable.For example, in the garden house, on the ceiling of the kitchen, in the recessed place where the windows can be closed, and on the wall of the bedroom in the hut, etc.As for the foundation for building its nest, it doesn't care about that.why?Because, in normal times, its porous nests are usually built on stone walls or wood.These places are relatively solid.As such, they don't seem to care much about the foundation of the house.Sometimes, however, I have seen him build his nest inside a gourd, or in a fur hat, in a crack in a brick, or in an empty bag of wheat; Nests inside lead pipes. I remember one time, what I saw in a farmer's house close to the college was even more novel.In this farmer's house, there is a particularly large stove.In the great room where this hearth was installed, in a row of pots on the hearth, soup was being boiled for the farm workers, and something for the cattle.After a while, the workers all returned home from the fields.After a tiring day, their stomachs must be starving.When they came back, they couldn't wait to devour their food and soup very quickly on the sidelines without making a sound.In order to enjoy the comfort of half an hour's break from work and meal, they simply took off the hats they wore on their heads that prevented them from eating, and then took off their coats, and hung them on a wooden peg.Although this meal time is short for the farmers and workers, it is more than enough for the mason bees to occupy the clothes that the workers have just taken off.Among these clothes and straw hats, they regard it as the most suitable place, and they rush to occupy it first.The folds of those jackets are considered the best places.Meanwhile, the construction work of the mason bees is about to break ground.At this time, a worker had finished his meal, stood up from the table, and shook his own clothes.The other person also stood up, walked over, took off his straw hat, and shook a bit too.This few shakes removed the hive that had just begun to take shape. At this moment, in such a short period of time, its hive was as big as an acorn, which was unexpected.They are some amazing little animals. In the farmer's family, there is a woman who cooks food.She didn't have the slightest liking for animals like the mason bee.She complained that these nasty little things often came out and made a lot of things dirty.The ceilings, walls, and chimneys are often covered with mud, which is very annoying and takes a lot of effort to clean.However, in clothes and curtains, the situation is very different.Every day the woman used a piece of bamboo to beat the window curtain vigorously to keep it clean.So, it's a little bit better in those places, a little bit cleaner.But how hard it is to drive away these disturbing little animals!Chased away once, it will come back to make a nest the next morning in the same way.It is such a persistent little guy, always doing its instinctive work tirelessly. 2. Its buildings In fact, I also sympathize with this farm cook and understand her troubles very well.However, I also regret that I cannot take her place.There is nothing I can do about it.If, with some kind of power, I could make this little animal live in a stable place in peace, it would be great, I would be very happy.That way, even if it gets the furniture covered with dirt, it won't get in the way!I'd much rather be able to know the fate of its kind of nest.What do they do if the nest is made on something that is not very stable, say, on clothing, or on a window curtain? The mason bee's nest is made of hard plaster.Usually its nests are around the branches.Since it is composed of stucco, it can be very firmly attached to it.The nest of the mason-bee, however, is only made of earth, without cement, or any other more solid foundation.So, how does it solve these problems? There is nothing special about the materials used in the construction.Just wet dirt, taken from that wetland.Therefore, clay soil by the river is the most suitable choice.However, in a sandy village like ours, there are very few river courses.In my own small garden however, I have dug small ditches in the areas where the vegetables are grown for better planting.Therefore, sometimes, if there is a little water, it will flow in the ditch all day long.Therefore, there will often be the figure of the waist-sharp bee here.Here they choose the right soil, so that when I have nothing else to do, I can observe these builders.It's a good place to observe. When it is near the ditch, it will of course notice this gratifying thing, so it rushes over to fetch the precious little soil beside the water.They are not willing to let go of this extremely rare find in this moisture-free season.So how did they dig the soil here?They used their jaws to scrape the smooth mud beside the ditch, stood upright, and their wings were still vibrating, lifting their black body quite high.My housekeeper works by the side of this earth.She lifted her skirt very carefully so as not to get it dirty.But in fact, it is rarely possible to avoid stains.But such a group of wasps that kept moving the soil should have been very dirty, but in fact they didn't even have a trace of mud on their bodies.The reason for this is that they naturally have their own clever ways.They will lift their bodies up so that they will not get a little bit of mud all over their bodies.Except for their toes and working jaws, there is no mud or other dirty things to be seen anywhere else. In this way, it didn't take long for a mud ball to be successfully made.Almost the size of a pea.Then the mason bee takes it in its teeth and flies back to add another layer to its own building.After this work is completed, it does not rest for a while, and then continues to invest in new work.Then fly back and make a second ball of mud.In the hottest part of the day, as long as the soil is wet and wet, the work of the mason bees will continue. Except for the wet soil beside the small ditch in my garden, the best place in the village is next to the spring where the villagers lead their donkeys to drink.In this place, there is wet black sludge at all times.Even the hottest sun and the strongest wind can't dry this piece of soil.This muddy place is very inconvenient and unwelcome to those who walk.However, the squid wasp is different.It likes to come to this place very much, because the soil here is of very good quality, and it also likes to make small mud pellets next to the donkey's hooves.Every time it will have a rich harvest. Unlike the mason bee, a clay builder, the wasp does not first make the soil into cement, it just takes the ready-made soil and applies it directly to the building.The wasp's nest, therefore, is much weaker and more unstable, and quite unable to withstand the ever-changing changes of the climate.As long as a drop of water falls on it, the comb will soften and become the same soil as before.If there is a gust of wind and rain, its nest will be smashed into mud.This is mainly because this kind of honeycomb is actually only made of dried mud. Once soaked in water, it will immediately become the same soft mud as before, and the natural nest will no longer exist. Once again, the painstaking efforts of rebuilding their homes had to be made. The fact is obvious, even if the young wasps are not afraid of the cold at all, and are not afraid of the rain to smash the hive, the hive must be built in a shelter from the rain.That's why this kind of small animal likes to choose the house where humans live, especially choose the warm chimney to build its own residence.It seems that security is very important. Until the last work of ornament--the layers which cover its painstakingly manufactured structure--has not been quite accomplished, the hive of the wasp has a very natural beauty indeed.It has little nests, and sometimes they line each other up in a sort of harmonica-like shape.However, most of those small nests are stacked on top of each other.Sometimes, there are fifteen small nests; sometimes, there are ten; sometimes, it is reduced to three, four, or even just one. The shape of the nest of the wasp is similar to that of a cylinder.Its mouth is slightly larger, and the bottom is slightly smaller.The large ones were over an inch long and half an inch wide, and the comb had a very fine surface, which had been whitewashed with great care.On this surface, there is a series of linear protrusions around it, like the threads on a gold wire belt.Each line is a layer on the building.The shape of these lines is revealed by covering each layer of the already made nest with earth.Count them, and you will know how many times the Wasp made a round trip while building it.They are usually between fifteen and twenty floors.For each nest, the hard-working and tireless builder must use about twenty times to move materials back and forth when building it.It can be seen how hardworking they are! The mouth of the hive is of course upwards.If the mouth of a jar is facing downwards, what else can it hold?Of course nothing can fit.The truth is here.The wasp's nest is nothing special, it's just like a jar, and the food to be stored in it is: a bunch of small spiders. These nests, one by one, were built, and the wasps filled them with spiders.After they have laid their own eggs, they are all sealed up.However, at this time, it still retains a beautiful appearance.This appearance is maintained until the wasp considers the nest to be sufficiently numerous.Therefore, the wasp will pile up a layer of soil around the entire nest to make it stronger and play a protective role.This time the Hornets did not make any careful calculations when they were working.Therefore, it is not particularly elaborate, and it is not like the old nest, which is paved with considerable decorations.As much dirt as the wasps can bring back, they pile up as much dirt on it.As long as it can be piled up, there is no more repairing or decoration.Once the soil is taken back, it is piled up on the original nest.Then, just a few light taps, very casually, to spread the dirt.This layer of wrapping material immediately covered up the beauty of the building.When this final operation is completed, the final shape of the honeycomb is formed.The hive at this moment is like a pile of mud, a pile of mud that people have thrown on the wall. 3. Its food Now, we all know how this food jar is formed.Next, what we must know is what is hidden in this jar. The juvenile wasps feed on various spiders.Even in the same nest, the shapes of their food are different, because all kinds of spiders can serve as food, but the size should not be too large.Otherwise it won't fit in the jar.Among the various foods of young bees, the cross spider with three intersecting white spots on its back is the most common delicacy.The reason for this, I think, should be very simple.Because, wasps are not the kind of animals that travel far from home to hunt for food thousands of miles away.It just often hunts in the vicinity of its residence.The cross-striped spider is the easiest to find in the immediate vicinity of its dwelling. For young bees, spiders with poisonous claws are the most dangerous game.If the spider has a particularly large body, it requires greater courage and greater dexterity in the wasp to conquer it.This is not an easy task!Moreover, the place of the hive is too small to hold such a big thing.Therefore, the wasp had to give up hunting the big spiders, not to do this time-consuming, laborious, and thankless stupid thing.Or more practical.So, it had to choose to hunt those smaller spiders for food.If, by chance, it encounters a group of spiders that can be hunted, it is always very smart, never greedy for too many, and only chooses the smallest one among them.However, although they are all smaller in size, the size of its captives is still quite different.Therefore, the difference in size will affect the difference in number.In this nest, there were a dozen spiders, while in another nest, there were only five or six spiders. Another reason for the wasp's preference for the small spider is that it must kill the spider before it can pack its prey into its nest.The action it has to take has the following steps: first, it suddenly lands on the spider to win the game quickly, and it will take the little spider away before it even has time to stop its wings.This little animal doesn't know anything about the methods of anesthesia used by other insects.This little food, once stored, can easily go bad.Fortunately, this spider is small and can eat it all in one meal.If it is replaced by a larger spider, it is impossible to finish a meal, so it can only be divided into several times.In this case, the spider must rot.Such rotten food poisons the other larvae in the nest, which is not good for the whole family. I can often see that the eggs of the wasps are not placed on the top of the bee box.It was on the body of the first spider stored in the bee case.This is pretty much the case, with no exceptions at all.The wasps always put the first caught spider on the bottom layer, then lay their eggs on top of it, and then put the other spiders on top.In this clever way, the young larvae can eat the older dead spiders first, and then the fresher ones.In this way, the food stored in the bee case does not have much time to go bad.This is not a very safe way. The bee's eggs are always laid on a certain part of the spider's body.The head-containing end of the egg is placed near the fattest part of the spider.This is fine for larvae.Because, once hatched, the larvae can directly eat the softest, most delicious and most nutritious food.So it's a really smart idea.It should be said that nature has endowed the wasp with a rather ingenious nature.Such an economically minded animal does not waste a morsel of food.When it completely ate up the spider, there was nothing left of the pile of spiders.This chewing life lasts from eight to ten days. After a good meal, the grub begins to make its cocoon.It was a pure white silk bag, unusual and delicate.There is something else that makes the larva's silk bag more solid.These things can be used for protection.Then the grub produces a fluid like varnish from its body.This liquid slowly soaks into the mesh of the silk, and then gradually hardens, becoming a very bright protective varnish.At this point, the larva again adds a hard stuffing under the cocoon it is making, so that everything is in place. When this work is done, the cocoon is amber-yellow, reminiscent of the skin of an onion.Because it has the same delicate tissue, the same color, and the same transparency as an onion, and, like an onion, if you touch it with your finger, it will immediately make a rustling sound. Hatch out of a yellow cocoon.A little earlier or a little later, this will vary with climate change. If we try to play a joke on the wasp once she has stored up her things in the hive, it immediately shows how mechanical the wasp's instincts are. After he had worked so hard to make his own nest, he brought back his first spider.The wasp immediately drags it into the nest, where it is stowed away, and immediately lays another egg in the fattest part of its body.After doing all this, it flew out again to continue its second field trip and hunting.When he wasn't in the house, I removed the dead spider from its nest, along with the egg.Let's play a little joke with this wasp.Not sure how it would react. We naturally think that if this little animal has a little brains, then it must be able to detect the disappearance of the spider and eggs, and it should feel strange!Although the bee egg is small, it is placed on the body of the big spider.So, when our little thing comes back and finds that the nest is empty, what will it do?What will be done?Will it act sensibly and lay another egg to make up for the one it lost?In fact, these are not, and its actions are very unreasonable. Now, all the little thing did was bring back another spider, and put it back in the nest quite frankly.Ignore all other things, as if nothing happened.It seemed that it simply did not see that its child had been lost.The spider that was just captured was also lost.It didn't find all these misfortunes, and it didn't show any frustrated expressions such as surprise, surprise, anxiety, or bewilderment.After that, as if nothing had happened, one after another blindly continued to pass the spiders into the nest.Whenever it has arranged the prey and eggs in the nest, it flies out again, continuing to struggle blindly and persistently.Every time it flies out, I will quietly take out these spiders and bee eggs.Therefore, every time he returned from hunting, the storage room was always practically empty.In this way, it worked very stubbornly and in vain for two whole days.It is determined to work hard, no matter what, to try to fill the food bottle that for some reason can never be full.I, like it, persisted indomitably for two days.一次又一次耐心地把巢穴里的蜘蛛和卵取出来。想要看看这个执着的小傻瓜究竟要等何时才能终结它这种看起来毫无意义的工作。当这个傻乎乎的小动物完成了它的第二十次任务的时候，也就是到了第二十次的收获物送来的时候，这位辛苦多时的猎人大概以为这罐子已经装够了——或许也是因为这么多次的旅行，疲倦了——于是，它便自认为非常小心而且谨慎地把自己的巢穴封锁了起来，然而，实际上，里面却完全是空的！什么东西都没有。它忙碌了这么久，事实上它根本意识不到这一点，真是让人可怜啊！ 在任何情况下，昆虫的智慧都是非常有限的。这一点是毫无疑问的，无论是哪一种临时的困难，昆虫，这种小小的的动物，都是无力加以很好而且迅速的解决的。无论是哪一个种类的昆虫，都同样的不能对抗。这一点，我可以列举出一大堆的例子来，证明昆虫是一种完全没有理解能力的动物。当然，同时，它也是一种不具有意识的动物。虽然它们的工作是那么异常的完备。经过长时间的经验和观察，使我不能不断定它们的劳动，既不是自动的，也不是有意识的。它们的建筑、纺织、打猎、杀害，以及麻醉它们的捕获物，都和消化食物或是分泌毒汁一样，其方法和目的完全都是不自知的。所以，我相信这样一点，即这些动物对于它们所具有的特殊的才能，完全是莫名其妙的，既不知也不觉。 动物的本能是不能改变的。经验不能指导它们；时间也不能使它们的无意识有一丝一毫的觉醒。如果它们只有单纯的本能，那么，它们便没有能力去应付大千世界，应付大自然环境的变化。环境是要经常有所变化的，意外的事情有很多，也时常会发生，正因为如此，昆虫需要具备一种特殊的能力，来教导它，从而让它们自己能够清楚什么是应该接受的，什么又是应该拒绝的。它需要某种指导。这种指导，它当然是具备的，不过，智慧这样一个名词，似乎太精细了一点，在这里是不适用的。于是，我预备叫它为辨别力。 那么，昆虫，能够意识到它自己的行动吗？能，但同时也不能。如果它的行动是由于它所拥有的本能而引起的，那么它就不能知道自己的行动。如果它的行动是由于辨别力而产生的结果，那么，它就能意识到。 比如，舍腰蜂利用软土来建造巢穴，这一点就是它的本能。它常常是如此建造巢穴的，从一生下来就会。既不是时间，也不是生活的奋斗与激励，能够使得它模仿泥水匠蜂，用那种细沙的水泥去建造它自己的巢，这并不是它的本能。 黄蜂的这个泥巢，一定要建在一种隐避之处，以便抵抗自然风雨的侵袭。在最初的时候，大概那种石头下面可以隐匿的地方就能够被认为是相当合适了。但是，当它发现还有更好的其它的地方可以选择时，它便会立刻去占据下来，然后搬到人家的屋子里边去住。那么，这一种就属于辨别力了。 黄蜂利用蜘蛛作为它的子女的食物，这就是它本能的一种。表现没有其它的任何方法，能够让这只黄蜂明白，小蟋蟀也是一样的好，和蜘蛛一样可以当作食物。不过假设那种长有交叉白点的蜘蛛缺少了，那它也不会让它的宝宝挨饿的。它会选择其它类型的蜘蛛，将其捕捉回来，给它的子女吃。那么，这种就是辨别力。 在这种辨别力的性质之下，隐伏了昆虫将来进步的可能性。 四、它的来源舍腰蜂又给我们带来了另外一个问题。它寻找着我们房子里的火炉的热量。这是因为它的巢穴是用软土建筑起来的，潮湿会把它给弄成泥浆而无法居住。所以，基于上述原因，它必须要有一个干燥的隐避场所。因此，热量，也是黄蜂生活中所必要的。 那么，它是不是一个侨民呢？或许它是从海边被卷过来的？它是从有枣椰树的陆地来到生长洋橄榄的陆地的？如果真的是这样的话，那么它们也就自然地会觉得我们这个地方的太阳不够温暖，也就必须要寻找一些地方，比如说火炉，作为人工取暖的地方了。这样就可以解释它的习性了，为什么它能和别的种类的黄蜂有如此大的差别。而且这种蜂都是避人的。 在它还没有到我们这里来做客以前，它的生活是什么样子的呢？在没有房屋以前，它住在什么样的地方呢？没有烟筒的时候，它把蛴螬隐藏在哪里呢？ 也许，当古代山上的居民用燧石做武器，剥掉羊皮做衣服，用树枝和泥土造屋子的时候，这些屋子也已经早就有舍腰蜂的足迹了。也许，它们的巢就建筑在一个破盆里面，那是我们的祖先用手指取粘土制做成的。或者它就在狼皮及熊皮做的衣服的褶缝里边筑巢。我感到非常奇怪，当它们在用树枝和粘土造成的粗糙的壁上做巢的时候，它们是否选择那些靠近烟筒的地点呢？这些烟筒，虽然和我们现在所使用的烟筒不同，但是，在不得已的时候，那些烟筒也是可以利用的。 如果说，舍腰蜂在古代的时候，的确和那些最古老的人们共同在这个地方居住过，那么它所经历和见到的进步，就真的是不少了，而且，它所得到的文明的利益也真正是不少了。它已经把人类不断增进的幸福转变成为自己的了。当人类社会，发明出在房屋的屋顶上铺上天花板的法子，想出在烟筒上加上管子的主意以后，我们便可以想象得到，这个怕冷的动物就会悄悄地对自己自言自语道：“这是如何的舒适啊！让我们在这里撑开帐篷吧！” 但是，我们还应该追究得更远一些。在小屋没有出现以前，在壁龛也不常见之前，甚至是在人类还没有出现之前，舍腰蜂又是在哪里造房子的呢？这个问题，当然不是一个孤立的问题。我们还可以提出这样的问题：燕子和麻雀在没有窗子、烟筒等东西以前，它们又是在哪里筑巢的呢？ 燕子、麻雀、舍腰蜂是在人类出现以前就已经存在了的动物。显然，它们的工作是不能依靠人类劳作的。当这里还没有人类的时候，它们各自必定已经具有了高超的建筑技艺了。 三四十年来，我都常常问我自己，在那个时候舍腰蜂住在哪里的问题。 在我们的屋子外面，我们找不到它们的窠巢的痕迹。在房子外边，在空旷的广场、在荒丘的草地里，我们都没有找到舍腰蜂的住处。 但是，最后，我长时间的研究结果表明，一个帮助我的机会出现了。 在西往南的采石场上，有许多碎石头子和很多的废弃物，堆积在这里有很长时间了。据说已经有几百年的时间了。在这个乱石堆上，沉积了几个世纪的污泥，几百年的风风雨雨，将这些乱石堆摆在人们面前。田鼠也在那里生活着。在我寻找这些宝藏的时候，我有三次发现了在乱石堆中的舍腰蜂的巢。 这三个巢与在我们屋子里发现的完完全全一个样，材料当然也是泥土，而用以保护的外壳，也是相同的泥土。 这个地方的危险性，并没有促使这位建筑家丝毫的一点儿进步。我们有时——不过很少——看到舍腰蜂的巢筑在石堆里和不靠着地的平滑的石头下面。 在它们还没有侵入我们的屋子以前，它们的窠巢一定是建筑在这类地方的。 然而，这三个巢的形状，是很凄惨的，湿气已经把它们给侵蚀坏了，茧子也被弄得粉碎了。周围也没有厚厚的土保护着它，它们的幼虫也已经牺牲了——已经被田鼠或别的动物吃光了。 这个荒废的景象，使我惊疑的来到我邻居的屋外。是否能够真为舍腰蜂建巢的地点，挑选一个适当的位置呢？事实很显然，母蜂不愿意这么做，并且也不至于被驱逐到这么绝望的地步。同时，如果气候使它不能从事它祖先的生活方式，那么，我想，我可以断言，它就是一个侨民。它很可能是从遥远的异国他乡，侨居到这个地方来的侨民。也可能是另一种移民，那种背井离乡的移民。也可能是难民，是为了生计，不得不远走他乡，被其他地方收养的难民。 事实的确如此，它是从炎热的、干燥的、缺水的、沙漠式的地方来的，在它们那里，雨水不多，雪简直是没有的。 我相信，舍腰蜂是从非洲来的。 很久以前，它经过了西班牙，又经过了意大利，来到了我们这里，它可以说的上是千里迢迢，也可以说它是不远万里、不辞辛苦地到我们这里来。 它不会越过长着洋橄榄树的地带，再往北去。它的祖籍是非洲，而现在它又归入了我们布曼温司。 在非洲，据说它常把巢穴建筑在石头的下面，而在马来群岛，听说也有它们的同族、同宗，它们是住在屋子里的。 从世界的这一边，来到世界的那一边，从世界的南边来到世界的北边，从地球的南边——非洲，来到地球的北边——欧洲！最后又来到马来群岛。它的嗜好都是一个样的：蜘蛛、泥巢，还有人类的屋顶。 假如我是在马来群岛，我一定要翻开乱石堆，翻找它居住的巢穴。这时，我会很高兴地在一块平滑的石头下面，发现它的巢穴，发现它的住所——原来它的位置，就在这些石头的下面。