The Life of the Bee 



at this point they must begin, and at that 

 point stop ? Once again we must con- 

 tent ourselves with the reply, that is no 

 reply : " It is a mystery of the hive." 

 Huber has sought to explain this mys- 

 tery by suggesting that the pressure of 

 the bees' hooks and teeth may possibly 

 produce slight projections, at regular in- 

 tervals, on the opposite side of the comb ; 

 or that they may be able to estimate the 

 thickness of the block by the flexibility, 

 elasticity, or some other physical quality of 

 the wax ; or again, that their antennas, 

 which seem so well adapted for the ques- 

 tioning of the finer, less evident side of 

 things, may serve as a compass in the in- 

 visible ; or, lastly, that the position of 

 every cell may derive mathematically from 

 the arrangement and dimensions of the 

 cells on the first row, and thus dispense 

 with the need for further measurement. 

 But these explanations are evidently in- 



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