The Life of the Bee 



seem incontestable, therefore, that the hex- 

 agon is not merely the result of mechani- 

 cal necessities, but that it has its true 

 place in the plans, the experience, the 

 intellect and will of the bee. I may 

 relate here another curious instance of 

 the workers' sagacity : the cells they built 

 on the tin had no other base than the 

 metal itself. The engineers of the corps 

 had evidently decided that the tin could 

 adequately retain the honey; and had 

 considered that, the substance being im- 

 permeable, they need not waste the mate- 

 rial they value so highly by covering the 

 metal with a layer of wax. But, a short 

 time after, some drops of honey having 

 been placed in two of these cells, the bees 

 discovered, in tasting it, that the contact 

 of the metal had a deteriorating effect. 

 Thereupon they reconsidered the matter, 

 and covered over with wax the ent-^re sur- 

 face of the tin. 



204 



