386 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



44 Alas! Uncle, I hardly understand the statement 

 of it." 



"To economize the wax, a very simple way sug- 

 gests itself at the outset : it is to make the partitions 

 of the cells very thin. You may be quite sure the 

 bees are equal to this elementary requirement. 

 They make the wax walls scarcely as thick as a sheet 

 of paper. But that is not enough: it is necessary 

 above all to take the form into consideration and to 

 seek the most economical shape. Let us try. What 

 shape shall we give the cells to satisfy the conditions 

 of economy in space and wax? 



< ' First of all let us suppose them to be round. Let 

 us trace on paper some circles of equal size and 

 touching one another. Between three of these con- 

 tiguous circles there will always be an unoccupied 

 space. The round form will not do, then, for the 

 cells, since there will always be a waste of space, or 

 empty intervals. 



"Let us make them square. We will trace equal 

 squares on the paper. In going about it properly we 

 can arrange the squares side by side without leaving 

 any empty spaces between them. Look at the in-- 

 laid floor of this room, composed of little square red 

 bricks. These bricks leave no intervening spaces; 

 they touch on every side. The square form, there- 

 fore, suits the first condition, namely: to utilize all 

 the space. 



"But here is where another difficulty arises. 

 Cells fashioned on the square model would not hold 

 enough honey for the quantity of wax used in con- 



