ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 341 



are sufficiently contracted to avoid waste of room 

 and to preserve a proper warmth, yet wide enough 

 to allow the passage of two bees abreast. Apertures 

 through different parts of the combs are reserved 

 to form near roads, for crossing from street to 

 street, whereby much time is saved to the bees. 



" These in firm phalanx ply their twinkling feet, 

 Stretch out the ductile mass, and form the street, 

 With many a cross- way path and postern gate, 

 That shorten to their range the spreading state." 



EVANS. 



The bees, as has been already observed, build 

 tJieir cells of an hexangular form, having six 

 equal sides, with the exception of the first or upper- 

 most row, the shape of which is an irregular pen- 

 tagon, the roof of the hive forming one of the 

 members of the pentagon, thus : 



" There are only three possible figures of the 

 cells," says DR. REID, " which can make them all 

 equal and similar, without any useless interstices. 

 These are the equilateral triangle, the square and 

 the regular hexagon. It is well known to mathe- 

 maticians that there is not a fourth way possible, 



