THE COMB-BUILDERS 203 



to work to fulfil them in the best imaginable 

 way. 



A city is to be built which is to accommodate 

 twenty or thirty thousand individuals. Vast 

 nursery-quarters must be constructed, as there may 

 be as many as ten or twelve thousand youngsters 

 to cradle at one and the same time. For at least six 

 months of the year no food will be obtainable from 

 outside, so that the city must contain large store- 

 houses capable of holding more than a six months' 

 supply. As the temperature in winter can be kept 

 up only by the bodily warmth of the inhabitants, 

 life in the city must be concentrated into the 

 smallest possible space; and the materials of which 

 the city is built must be heat-conserving, while its 

 construction must allow of perfect ventilation at all 

 times, and in summer it must permit a free circula- 

 tion of air, that the surplus heat can be readily 

 carried off. The city must be a fortress as well as 

 a home, and be closed in on every side as a pro- 

 tection against its many enemies, as well as the 

 weather. 



There is another, and just as vital a condition 

 governing its construction — the necessity for strict 

 economy in material. If there were any natural 

 substance having the qualities of tenacity, light- 

 ness, ductility, and strength which the bees could 

 obtain out of doors instead of wax, no doubt they 

 would use it for comb-building, and they would not 

 spend hours of precious time and consume large 



