49 8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



depth of an ordinary cell, the bees began excavating a cell on one 

 side, and two on the other ; these cells were so arranged that the 

 partition-wall between the two cells was exactly opposite the middle 

 of the one. 



Bees, Huber tells us, do no truly cooperative work ; the only 

 thing which looks like cooperation is the unanimity with which the 

 whole swarm waits till one bee has laid the foundation. Each bee 

 follows the suggestion of the one which has preceded it. As the work 

 progresses, it becomes possible for a larger and larger number to join 

 in, and it is only the foundation-cells which are excavated ; the others 

 are built in their permanent form. 



The much-praised exactness of the bee is shown to have been 

 over-estimated ; but the variations which we find in the hive are 

 much more extraordinary than the uniformity. These are always due 

 to something wonderfully like the intelligence of man, in its power of 

 conforming to circumstances. 



Only once in his life was Huber turned aside from his peculiar work. 

 In his investigation upon the ventilation of the hive, he had occasion 

 to introduce some seeds, and watch their germination. At the sug- 

 gestion of Senebier, whom he had associated with himself in these 

 particular experiments, he turned his attention to the phenomenon of 

 germination, and, in connection with him, prepared a paper entitled 

 " Memoire sur l'Influence de l'Air dans le Germination des Grains," 

 Geneva, 1801, but he soon returned to the work of his life. 



No more striking commentary can be made upon the extent of 

 Huber's labors than that afforded by a consideration of the work of 

 his successors. The German apiarian Dzierzon has cleared up the 

 mystery of the drone-laying queens a mystery fully recognized and 

 clearly stated' by Huber. Many facts have been added to those dis- 

 covered by Huber, and some few corrections of his statements have 

 been made; but it has fallen to the lot of few naturalists to leave be- 

 hind them a work so full and accurate as his. All that has been done 

 in this department since his time and, altogether, it falls short of the 

 work performed by him is merely a building upon his foundation. 



The discoveries which he made are recorded, in full, and are sup- 

 ported by experiments, described with such lucidity, that to read 

 them is almost like witnessing the facts. His clear, unerring intellect, 

 penetrating through all side-issues, seized the gist of every difficulty ; 

 and those which he did not finally solve, he stated with such accuracy 

 as to direct the observation of his successors. 



