BEE MANUAL. 95 



In the American Apiculturisl for March, 1885, there is 

 an interesting article on the " Origin of the Cells of the Hive 

 Bee," by A. Todd, and also a description of " Holman's new 

 illustration of cell formation " in vegetable structure. The 

 latter consists of an apparatus for forcing soap bubbles between 

 two parallel plates of glass, when it is seen that the spherical 

 bubbles, when crowded together, are changed into " polygonal 

 forms analogous to those that we see in cross sections of wood 

 fibre." These new forms are nearly all hexagonal, though by 

 no means regular hexagons. Founded on this and upon other 

 considerations — such as the natural tendency of bees to build 

 cylindrical cells when working with an excess of material — Mr. 

 Todd informs us that " Herr K. Mullenhoff has found a quite 

 simple and satisfactory solution of the question " (the form of 

 the hive bee's cells), "which neither admits of any mysterious 

 instinct, nor, on the other hand, icredits the bee with the 

 knowledge of the differential calculus." He argues that the 

 bees are in some way forced to build the foundation of the 

 cells and the side walls of the hexagons, in consequence of the 

 position they assume when beginning to build, and in conse- 

 quence of the natural tendency of the soft wax to take form in 

 accordance " with the laws which Plateau has discovered for 

 his equilibrium figures." Mr. Todd considers this solution 

 very satisfactory, as " not a few writers, even to the present 

 day, maintain that we have here a typical case of ' instinct,' in 

 the old acceptation of the word ; that is, of blind, unconscious, 

 untaught action, producing results which men can only reach 

 by dint of highly cultivated reason." The line of reasoning 

 intended to confound those old-fashioned writers is scarcely a 

 convincing one. Somehow, between the bee and the wax, the 

 comb receives the form we admire and find to be the best. If 

 the result can be proved to be partly owing to the wax being 

 affected by a law of nature, which Plateau has been so fortunate 

 as to discover, then it only demonstrates the truth that inert 

 matter, as well as the living organism, exhibits a " blind, 

 unconscious, untaught action," leading to some end intended 

 by the Giver of that law. It would be equally silly to 

 attribute to the bee, as to the wax, a knowledge of the differen- 

 tial calculus, and therefore we are thrown back upon the 

 quality of instinct, which is admirably defined by the words 

 quoted above. 



