THE PERFECT SOCIALISM 85 



claimed that the hexagonal cell was a matter of neces- 

 sity, the result of pressure ; but as the bees start the 

 cells at their bases in hexagonal shape, and as they 

 hollow out in a triangular pyramid a perfect rhomb in 

 the bottom of the cell, I think we must concede to them 

 some powers of the geometrician. Surely no mansions 

 made of marble carven by the hand of man are more 

 wonderful or beautiful in their structure than a perfect 

 honeycomb. The power of bees to take industrial 

 advantage of a situation is shown by the readiness with 

 which they use the commercial foundation-comb intro- 

 duced by apiarists to save their bees the expense of 

 wax-making. 



Wasps were the first and original paper makers, and 

 as geometricians and architects vie with their relatives, 

 the bees. One has only to study the stories in that 

 gray apartment house called a wasps' nest to be filled 

 with admiration for the skill of the builders. The 

 wasps build their nests of a material made by gathering 

 bits of weather-worn wood and chewing them up, mak- 

 ing a true paper pulp. These builders are equal to 

 emergencies. Once we involuntarily unroofed a wasps' 

 nest that was under a board. Several days later we 

 discovered that the nest was well roofed by neat paper 

 shingles. Never before, probably, had these wasps or 

 their ancestors been called upon to roof a domicile, but 



