THE BEE NATION. 251 



within the hive is the building and arranging of the wax 

 cells, to which only cursory allusion has as yet been made : 

 these serve partly as cradles for the brood, partly for the 

 reception and preservation of the collected provisions. The 

 main principle here i*, as many cells as possible with the 

 greatest possible economy in wax, space, and labor and this 

 is realised by the bees in a manner that deserves our deepest 

 admiration, and has indeed awakened the surprise of all 

 observers. For as bees possess no mathematical and 

 geometrical knowledge, and have also no need thereof, they 

 have by practice, experience, and inheritance, aided by the 

 principle of natural selection, gradually reached that kind 

 and fashion of building which seems most h'tted to their 

 purpose. Each single comb or layer consists of two rows 

 or divisions of cells arranged closely side by side ; each cell 

 with its six sides and its pyramidal floor is so arranged with 

 respect to its fellows that the floors of one set make the 

 roofs of those opposiie them in the comb, and the sides serve 

 as the boundaries of the neighboring cells; thus each wall, 

 both of sides and floor, serves for two cells. But as this 

 double duty imposed on the already thin walls, might easily 

 give rise to the danger of breaking, the prudent insects 

 make a suitable strengthening by surrounding the open 

 edges of each cell with a thickening of w r ax, Justin the same 

 way that tinkers put a rim of tin round the edges of tinned 

 ironware to make them stronger and less liable to bend. 



It is very difficult to watch the bees during the absolute 

 building of the cells. They are so eager to help each other, 

 and press so closely together, constantly relieving each other, 

 that there is seldom any opportunity of watching a single 

 operation separately. But it can be seen that their man- 

 dibles are the chiet instruments with which they spread out 

 and smooth the wax. While some bring the six-sided cells 

 to their normal length, others are busy laying the founda- 

 tions of new ones : when the first hexagonal cells are 

 shaped the others seem to take the same shape of their own 

 accord. The wax left over in first forming them is carefully 

 scratched off with the teeth, made into a little ball about the 

 size of a pin's head and used elsewhere. 



All the cells have not the same shape, as would be the 

 case if the bees in building worked according to a perfectly 

 instinctive and unchangeable plan. There are very mani- 



