HIVE-BEES. 119 



" Several naturalists notice the irregularities in the cells 

 of bees as so many defects. What would have been their 

 astonishment had the}^ observed that part of them are the 

 result of calculation ? Had they followed the imperfection 

 of their organs, some other means of compensating them 

 would have been granted to the insects. It is much more 

 surprising that they know how to quit the ordinary route, 

 when circumstances demand the construction of enlarged 

 cells ; and, after building thirty or forty rows of them, to 

 return to the proper proportions from which they have 

 departed by successive reductions. Bees also augment the 

 dimensions of their cells when there is an opportunity for a 

 great collection of honey. Not only are they then con- 

 structed of a diameter much exceeding that of the common 

 cells, but they are elongated throughout the whole space 

 admitting it. A great portion of irregular comb contains 

 cells an inch, or even an inch and a half, in depth. 



" Bees, on the contrary, sometimes are induced to shorten 

 their cells. When wishing to prolong an old comb, whose 

 cells have received their full dimensions, they gradually 

 reduce the thickness of its edges, by gnawing down the 

 sides of the cells, until they restore it to its original lenti- 

 cular form. They add a waxen block around the whole 

 circumference, and on the edge of the comb construct 

 pyramidal bottoms, such as those fabricated on ordinary 

 occasions. It is a certain fact, that a comb never is ex- 

 tended in any direction unless the bees have thinned the 

 edges, which are diminished throughout a sufficient space 

 to remove any angular projection. 



" The law which obliges these insects partly to demolish 

 the cells on the edges of the comb before enlarging it, 

 unquestionably demands more profound investigation. How 

 can we account for instinct leading them to undo what they 

 have executed with the utmost care ? The wonted regular 

 gradation, which may be necessary for new cells, subsists 

 among those adjoining the edges of a comb recently con- 

 structed. But afterwards, when those on the edge are 

 deepened like the cells of the rest of the surface, the bees 



