Honey-Comb Described. 153 



queen cells are much thicker, and contain as before stated 

 much that is not wax. In the arch-like pits in queen 

 cells, we farther see how strength is conserved and mate- 

 rial economized. 



Honey-comb has been an object of admiration since the 

 earliest time. Some claim that the form is a matter of neces- 

 sity — the result of pressure or reciprocal resistance and not 

 of bee-skill. The fact that the hexagonal form is some- 

 times assumed just as the cell is started, when pressure or 

 resistance could not aid, has led me to doubt this view; 

 especially as wasps form their paper nests of soft pulp, and 

 the hexagonal cells extend to the very edge, where no 

 pressure or resistance could affect the form of the cells. 

 Yet I am not certain that the mutual resistance of the cells 

 as they are fashioned from the soft wax may not aid in 

 determining the form. The bees certainly carve out the 

 triangular pj'ramid at the base. They would need to be 

 no better geometricians to form the hexagonal cells. The 

 assertion that the cells of honey-comb are absolutely uni- 

 form and perfect is untrue, as a little inspection will con- 

 vince any one. The late Prof. J. Wyman demonstrated 

 that an exact hexagonal cell does not exist. He also 

 showed that the size varies, so that in a distance of ten 

 worker-cells there may be a variation of one cell in diam- 

 eter, and this in natural, not distorted, cells. Any one who 

 doubts can easily prove, by a little careful examination, 

 that Prof. Wyman was correct. This variation of one- 

 fifth of an inch in ten cells is extreme, but a variation of 

 one-tenth of an inch is common. The sides, as also the 

 angles, are not constant. The rhombic faces forming the 

 bases of the cells also vary. The idea which has come 

 down from the past that mathematics and measurement 

 exactly agreed upon the angles of the rhombs, that the 

 two opposite obtuse angles were each 109° 28' 16" and the 

 acute 70° 31' and 44" is without foundation in fact. 



The bees chaiige from worker (Fig. 53, c) to drone- 

 cells (Fig. 53, a), which are one-fifth larger, and vice versa 

 not by any system (Fig. 53, ^). but simply by enlarging 

 or contracting. -It usually takes about four rows to com- 

 plete the transformation, though the number of deformed 



