The Life of the Bee 
pinnacle of the cupola. To this she will 
fix herself solidly, dislodging, with re- 
peated blows of her head, such of her 
neighbours as may seem to hamper her 
movements. Then, with her mouth and 
claws, she will seize one of the eight 
scales that hang from her abdomen, and 
at once proceed to clip it and plane it, 
extend it, knead it with her saliva, 
bend it and flatten it, roll it and straighten 
it, with the skill of a carpenter handling 
a pliable panel. When at last the sub- 
stance, thus treated, appears to her to 
possess the required dimensions and con- 
sistency, she will attach it to the highest 
point of the dome, thus laying the first, 
or rather the keystone of the new town; 
for we have here an inverted city, hang- 
ing down from the sky, and not rising 
from the bosom of earth like a city of 
men, 
To this keystone, depending in the 
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