How Animals Work. 



attention being given at the same time to perfect ven- 

 tilation; and as the temperature in winter can only 

 be kept up by the bodily warmth of the bees, the 

 building materials and general construction must con- 

 serve and not dissipate the heat factors of vital impor- 

 tance to the health and prosperity of the bee city. And 

 for all the work of construction nothing but wax can 

 be employed precious material which must be used 

 with the greatest economy ; while the work must be 

 performed in the shortest possible space of time, and 

 with the minimum amount of labour consistent with 

 perfect results. 



In the construction of the comb the worker bee is 

 confronted with the problem of producing a receptacle 

 which will serve alike as a nursery and a storehouse 

 for honey. The shape of the young bee larva being 

 round and oblong, a cylindrical cell at once suggests 

 itself as the most suitably shaped structure to build, 

 for it would serve quite as well for a honey vat, or as 

 a nursery. But thousands of these cylinders will be 

 needed ; and they must be packed as closely together 

 as possible, so that there shall be no loss of warmth, 

 and also to economize space. Now, no matter how 

 closely you pack together round cells or tubs, there will 

 be useless interstices left between them, which will 

 require a large amount of wax to fill up. Obviously, 

 then, the perfect cylinder is not the ideal form of recep- 

 tacle it at first appears to be. 



In problem number two the question arises how 

 best to dispose the large number of receptacles, once 

 their shape has been definitely decided upon, so as to 

 effect the greatest saving in space and in building mate- 



