The Life of the Bee 
space, or too little, between the combs. 
This they will remedy as best they can, 
either by giving an oblique twist to the 
comb that too nearly approaches the other, 
or by introducing an irregular comb into 
the gap. “The bees sometimes make 
mistakes,” Réaumur remarks on this sub- 
ject, “and herein we may find yet another 
fact which appears to prove that they 
reason.” 
[ 54] 
We know that the bees construct four 
kinds of cells. First of all, the royal 
cells, which are exceptional, and contrived 
somewhat in the shape of an acorn; then 
the large cells destined for the rearing 
of males and storing of provisions when 
flowers super-abound ; and the small cells, 
serving as workers’ cradles and ordinary 
store-rooms, which occupy normally about 
four-fifths of the built-over surface of the 
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