272 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



will place some of this artificial comb 

 foundation within the hive and note 

 that the honeybees will invariably, in 

 their very first work, change hexagons 

 and cubical indentations into simple cir- 

 cular rings. I have examined hundreds 

 of specimens of natural honeycomb made 

 wholly by the bees, and as many others 

 of the beginning of artificial comb foun- 

 dation, from the moment when the first 

 masticated particle of wax was placed 

 on the ridge, but without a single ex- 

 ception I have found that the bees 

 worked circularly or spherically. In 

 such cases like comb built between the 

 top of the frame where there is room for 

 only one or two rows of cells, or on the 

 edge of the honeycomb next to the at- 

 tachment to the wood, the cells invar- 

 iably are circular in outline. 



Figs. 1 to 6 are lent to us by the United 

 States Government. The other illustra- 

 tions, with the exception of the one on page 

 271 credited to Munn & Company, are by 

 the author. 



A Wax and Honey Church. 

 Mr. George F. Bowersox of Portland, 

 Indiana, is an artist in church archi- 

 tecture as well as with honeybees. On 

 a base sixteen by twenty inches he has 

 made for exhibition purposes a church 

 that is not only symmetrical in design 

 but sweet and attractive. The build- 

 ing is made of honey and of sheets of 

 wax. 



We are indebted to the "American 

 Bee Journal" of Hamilton, Illinois, for 

 the use of the accompanying illustra- 

 tion. The editor writes that Mr. Bow- 

 ersox would like to dispose of this 

 church. Here is an op- 

 portunity for some one to 

 obtain an attractive novel- 

 ty. It might be difficult 

 to pack the building so 

 that it could be trans- 

 ported in good shape, but 

 somebody in that immedi- 

 ate vicinity should hail 

 this as a rare opportunity 

 to secure a novel adver- 



tising 



design. 



The Search for Truth. 



Besides, I myself have 

 now for a long time ceased 

 to look for anything more 

 beautiful in this world, or 

 more interesting, than the 

 truth ; or at least than the 

 effort one is able to make 

 towards the truth. 



The fact that the hive 

 contains so much that is 

 wonderful does not war- 

 rant our seeking to add to 

 its wonders. — Maurice 

 Maeterlinck in "The Life 

 of The Bee." 



A CHURCH BUILT OF WAX AND HONEYCOMB. 



According to his nature, 

 man loves truth with a 

 pure and disinterested 

 love, the strongest intel- 

 lectual affection. The 

 healthy eye does not more 

 naturally turn to the light 

 than the honest mind 

 turns toward the truth.— 

 Hume : Essays. II. 



