The Foundation of the City 
placed on a pyramidal base, and two layers 
of these tubes form the comb, their bases 
being opposed to each other in such 
fashion that each of the three rhombs or 
lozenges which on one side constitute the 
pyramidal base of one cell, composes at the 
same time the base of three cells on the 
other. It is in these prismatic tubes that 
the honey is stored; and to prevent its 
escaping during the period of maturation— 
which would infallibly happen if the tubes 
were as strictly horizontal as they appear to 
be—the bees incline them slightly, to an 
angle of 4° or 5°. 
“Besides the economy of wax,” says 
Réaumur, when considering this marvellous 
construction in its entirety, “besides the 
economy of wax that results from the dis- 
position of the cells, and the fact that this 
arrangement allows the bees to fill the comb 
without leaving a single spot vacant, there 
are other advantages also with respect to the 
solidity of the work. The angle at the base 
of each cell, the apex of the pyramidal 
cavity, is buttressed by the ridge formed by 
the two faces of the hexagon of another cell. 
155 
