348 THE BEE. 



care, and with his tongue for a trowel, he moulds his 

 materials into the proper form, and with unwearied dili- 

 gence smooths and polishes his beautiful edifice. Though 

 the labor, for these little insects, is immense, yet the work 

 progresses with great expedition, for all are diligent in 

 contributing their mite. One wax worker after another 

 deposites his tiny burden, and there are many busy laborers 

 on the alert fashioning the raw material into tiie proper 

 form. The hive of the bee affords a most beautiful illus- 

 tration of what may be accomplished by persevering 

 industry. 



Goldsmith, who has given fascination to every subject 

 his pen has touched, thus vividly describes this inter- 

 esting department of the bee's labor. 



* If we examine their cells they will be found formed in 

 the exactest |)r()portion. It was sajd by Pappus, an 

 ancient geometrician, that of all other figures hexa- 

 gons were the most convenient, for when placed touch- 

 ing each other the most convenient room would be given 

 and the smallest lost. The cells of the bees are perfect 

 hexagons. These, in every honey-comb, are double, 

 opening on either side, closed at the bottom. The bot- 

 toms are composed of little triangular panes, which when 

 united together terminate in a point and lie exactly 

 upon the extremities of other panes of the same shape 

 in opposite cells. These lodgings have spaces like streets 

 between them large enough to give the bees a free pass- 

 age in and out, and yet narrow enough to preserve 

 the necessary heat. The mouth of every cell is defend- 

 ed by a border, which makes the door a little less than 

 the inside of the cell. It serves to strengthen the whole. 

 These ceils serve for different purposes : for laying up 

 their young ; for their wax, which in winter becomes 

 a part of their food ; and for their honey, which makeg 

 their principal subsistence. 



Their teeth are the instruments by which they model 

 and fashion their various buildings and give them such 

 symmetry and perfection. They begin at the top of the 

 hive and several of them work at a time at the cells, 

 which have two faces. If they are stinted with regard to 



