The Life of the Bee 
seem incontestable, therefore, that the hex- 
agon is not merely the result of’ mechani- 
cal necessities, but that it has .its true 
place in the plans, the experience, the 
intellect and will of the bee. I may 
relate here another curious instance ot 
the workers’ sagacity : the cells they built 
on the tin had no other base than the 
metal itself. The engineers of the corps 
had evidently decided that the tin could 
adequately retain the honey; and had 
considered that, the substance being im- 
permeable, they need not waste the mate- 
rial they value so highly by covering the 
metal with a layer of wax. But, a short 
time after, some drops of honey having 
been placed in two of these cells, the bees 
discovered, in tasting it, that the contact 
of the metal had a deteriorating effect. 
Thereupon they reconsidered the matter, 
and covered over with wax the entire sur- 
face of the tin. 
204 
