Perhaps the atmosphere of my cabinet and the dryness of the sand serving them for a bed have been too much for my nurslings, whose tender skins are used to the warm moisture of the subsoil.

Let us try another method.
To decide positively whether honey is or is not repugnant to the grubs of the Philanthus was hardly practicable by the method just explained.
The first meals consisted of flesh, and after that nothing in particular occurred.

The honey is encountered later, when the bee is largely consumed.

If hesitation and repugnance were manifested at this point they came too late to be conclusive; the sickness of the larvae might be due to other causes, known or unknown.

We must offer honey at the very beginning, before artificial rearing has spoilt the grub's appetite.