The Life of the Bee 



other. Take a finished comb to the light, 

 fix your eyes on the diaphanous wax ; you 

 will see, most clearly designed, an entire 

 network of sharply cut prisms, a whole 

 system of concordances so infallible that 

 one might almost believe them to be 

 stamped on steel. 



I wonder whether those who never have 

 seen the interior of a hive can form an ade- 

 quate conception of the arrangement and 

 aspect of the combs. Let them imagine — 

 we will take a peasant's hive, where the bee 

 is left entirely to its own resources — let 

 them imagine a dome of straw or osier, 

 divided from top to bottom by five, six, 

 eight, sometimes ten, strips of wax, resemb- 

 ling somewhat great slices of bread, that run 

 in strictly parallel lines from the top of 

 the dome to the floor, espousing closely 

 the shape of the ovoid walls. Between 

 these strips is contrived a space of about 

 half an inch, to enable the bees to stand 

 14 209 



