80 BEES AND BEE-KEEPTNG. 



hexagonal cells. A honeycomb is certainly one of 

 the most profound achievements of architecture ; it 

 has been the admiration of both sage and philosopher 

 for centuries past, and has awakened speculation not 

 only in the naturalist, but also in the mathematician. 

 So regular and so perfect is the structure of the cells, 

 that it satisfies every condition of a refined problem 

 in geometry. 



Before the time of Huber, we have no account of 

 any naturalist having seen the laying of the founda- 

 tion or making the commencement of a comb, nor 

 traced the several steps of its progress to completion. 

 After many attempts, he at length succeeded in 

 attaining the desired object, preventing the bees from 

 forming their usual impenetrable cluster or curtain 

 by suspending themselves from the top of the hive ; 

 in short, he obliged them to build upward, and was 

 thereby enabled, by means of a glass window, to 

 watch every variation and progressive step in the 

 formation of a comb. 



Each comb is composed of two ranges of cells, 

 backed against each other ; at first sight they present 

 the appearance of having one common base, yet on 

 careful examination we find that no cell is directly 

 opposite another, but the base or partition between 

 the double row of cells is so arranged as to form a 

 pyramidal cavity at the bottom of each. The cells 

 open into a space (or as Bevan calls it, a street), 

 which is always found between the combs ; the 

 spaces are about three-eighths of an inch in width 

 being a convenient passage for the bees, and sufficient 



