THE FARMER'S MANUAL. 173 



may be secured for winter against the effects of the 

 moisture. 



The Bees construct several cells at a time, parallel 

 with each other, all attached to the roof of the hive, 

 and perpendicular to its base. The spaces between 

 the combs are always sufficiently wide for two Bees 

 to pass freely, these are the streets of their city ; 

 perpendicular, not horizontal. Every comb is com- 

 posed of a double row of cells, which are placed 

 back to back, having one common base, and their 

 figure is an exact hexagon. Pappus, the famous geo- 

 metrician of antiquity, demonstrated that this figure 

 possesses the double advantage of filling a space, with- 

 out leaving any vacuum, and of enclosing the largest 

 space in the same circumference ; and it is most 

 wonderful, that the Bees have chosen, amongst an al- 

 most infinity of figures, the only one which could ex- 

 actly fulfil the essential conditions to which their na- 

 ture restricted them. The figure of the base is a 

 pyramid of three lozenges, formed perfectly equal. 

 The four angles of these lozenges are again so hap- 

 pily combined, and their opening is in such propor- 

 tion, that the wax is used with the greatest possible 

 economy, and in such a manner, that any other lo- 

 zenge composed of any other size, would not yield 

 the same results. Samuel Koenig, who made use of 

 the analysis of infinite units, to resolve this problem, 

 which was given him by M. Beaumur, arrived, after 

 all his calculations, at the mere result furnished him 

 by the Bees. The choice of the figure is, however, 

 not surpassed by the astonishing manner in which 

 they construct all the sides of the hexagons, all the 

 lozenges of their bases, and all the angles of the lo- 

 zenges. The thickness of each of the combs is ra- 

 ther indefinite ; it may, however, be stated in the ag- 

 gregate at one inch, the upper is, however, generally 

 larger. The depth, then, of each cell, is about half 

 an inch, and the breadth is constantly two lines, two 

 fifths, invariably, the world over, wherever Bees arc 



15* 



