Now, honey, most bees don’t live in big, fancy hives like you sometimes see. Most of us have to make it alone. So, we use anything we can get.

I'm a kind of mason bee that loves to work with flowers. They make a perfect nursery for children, you know. Find a hole, take some flower petals, paste them together with mud, and then cover the chamber with another layer of petals. Voila! It’s a flower sandwich that’s perfect for my little one. Down there, they’re warm and safe, but not too dry.

It’s no comb, but it sure is sweet!

Photographs by J.G. Rozen, Jr., American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024