136 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
system of vertical walls parallel and close together, 
made up of numberless small horizontal chambers 
placed back to back, is not an ideal arrangement 
either for the raising of the young or the storing 
of food. Yet it is the best possible contrivance 
under the circumstances, which are forced upon 
the bee by the necessity of leading a close, 
crowded, communal life. Air is a prime need for 
all operations in the hive, but for none more than 
the development of the young bees. When a 
queen is to be raised, a full supply of fresh air 
is given her, but only at the expense of valuable 
space. With the common kind, of which perhaps 
ten or fifteen thousand may be maturing in the 
brood-nest at one and the same time, it is obviously 
impossible to make any such concession. The 
young worker- or drone-larva must secure what 
air it can through the narrow cell-top. Now, the 
bee breathes at all stages of its career not through 
the mouth, but by means of air-holes or spiracles 
in the sides of its body. If the cell were round, 
the larva, when fairly grown, would fill the space, 
and the air would reach the spiracles only with 
difficulty. But, no matter what the size of the 
young grub may be, the angles of the hexagon 
cell are never quite filled. They form half a dozen 
by-passes for the air, arranged on all sides, and 
extending right to the base of the cell; and thus 
the larva has the full benefit of the available air- 
supply, even though it be necessarily scanty. 
