326 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



"BEES work only in circles. 

 Teachers College, Columbia University 

 New York City: Professor M. A. 

 Bigelow. 



Of course you have the right theory. 

 So far as I know, no entomologist of 

 the last hundred years has claimed that 

 bees directly make hexagons. The evi- 

 dence is cumulative that they work in 

 circles and that the hexagons are the 

 "outcome of physical laws," as you 



say. , 



It is a well-known fact that many ob- 

 jects in biology are hexagonal because 

 they are surrounded by six compan- 

 ions of approximately the same diam- 

 eter, and they become hexagonal be- 

 cause of mutual pressure. I believe 

 you have mentioned the familiar case 

 'of soap bubbles in the mass. I recall 

 that at one time I was working on the 

 embryo of a crustacean of which it was 

 possible to get the transparent eggs to 

 develop under pressure between glass 

 slides. The result was a single layer 

 of flattened cells all of which were hex- 

 agonal, except those at the border, 

 which were slightly hexagonal — that 

 is, they were rounded on the outside 

 where they were in contact with the Ject but I have found the article ex- 

 water, and had three flattened sides in ceedingly interesting and my best judg- 



ment is that you have, as lawyers say r 



made your case. 



$: % ^ ;$: $: 



"l THINK YOU ARE UNDOUBTEDLY RIGHT/ 



Carnegie Institution of Washington, 

 Station for Experimental Evolution* 

 Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island 

 New York: Professor Charles B. Da- 

 venport. 



I think you are undoubtedly right 

 that bees tend to make their cylinders 

 with the greatest economy of wax and 

 in doing - so remove all the thick inter- 

 spaces that lie between cylinders and 

 thus reduce the cavity to the form of a 

 prism approximating the hexagon 

 which is, as you point out. the natural 

 result of placing a number of cylinders 

 with minimum walls as close together 

 as possible. 



sk its jtt rfc 5$» 



"YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CASE.''' 



Elory McKendree Avery, Cleveland* 

 Ohio: Physicist, Author of a large 

 number of books on physics, chemis- 

 try and philosopy. 



I have carefully read your article on 

 "How Honeybees Produce Honey- 

 comb." 



As you must know, I am not quali- 

 fied to speak ex cathedra on such a sub- 



contact with the adjoining cells. When 

 after many hours T released the pres- 

 sure all of the cells rounded up and be- 

 came spherical, and the result was a 

 pile of spherical cells, such as you are 

 familiar with in the case of the embryo 

 of the starfish and many lower forms 

 in which the cells of the developing 

 eggs are not pressed together. 



I thank you for calling my attention 

 to this interesting problem, presented 

 in such an attractive way. 



"article is very interesting and Ex- 

 cellent." 

 Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Uni- 

 versity, New Haven, Connecticut: 

 H. L. Wells, Professor of Analytical 

 Chemistry and Metallurgy. 

 Your article is a very interesting and 

 excellent one , and I believe you are 

 perfectly right that the honeybees 

 make the hexagonal combs by accident 

 and without mathematical knowledge. 

 I get the same idea from Darwin that 

 I get from you, and I should still refer 

 any one to Darwin to learn about this 

 matter. 



HEXAGONS ARE NOT MADE BY BEES BUT 

 ARE THE RESULT OE PRESSURE. 



University of California, College of 

 Agriculture, Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Berkeley, California: 

 Geo. A. Coleman, In Charge of Api- 

 culture. 



My own observations confirm yours; 

 i.e., that the bees start the cells as a 

 circle, or cylinder, and it is pressure 

 that makes them hexagonal. 



"YOUR POSITION IS UNDOUBTEDLY COR- 

 RECT."" 



The University of Illinois, Urbana, Illi- 

 nois: Professor Henry B. Ward. In 

 Charge of Department of Zoology. 



I think your position is undoubtedly 

 correct. The bee naturally approxi- 

 mates a circle although not very exact- 

 ly at that, and the mechanical influence 

 of crowding circles together is to pro- 

 duce hexagons. With best wishes for 

 your valuable work. 



