Chap. VIII.] CELL-MAKING INSTINCT. g53 



boe allied to our humble-bees could exist in large num- 

 bers in any country; and let us further suppose that the 

 community lived tlirough the winter, and consequently 

 required a store of honey: there can in this case be no 

 doubt that it would be an advantage to our imaginary 

 humble-bee if a slight modification in her instincts led 

 her to make her waxen cells near together, so as to inter- 

 sect a little; for a wall in common even to two adjoining 

 cells would save some little labour and wax. Hence it 

 would continually be more and more advantageous to 

 our humble-hees, if they were to make their cells more 

 and more regular, nearer together, and aggregated into 

 a mass, like the cells of the Mehpona; for in this case a 

 large part of the bounding surface of each cell would 

 serve to bound the adjoining cells, and much lahour and 

 wax would be saved. Again, from the same cause, it 

 would he advantageous to the Melipona, if she were to 

 make her cells closer together, and more regular in every 

 waythan at present; for then, as we have seen, the spheri- 

 cal surfaces would wholly disappear and he replaced hy 

 plane surfaces; and the Melipona would make a comh as 

 perfect as that of the hive-bee. Beyond this stage of 

 perfection in architecture, natural selection could not 

 lead; for the comb of the hive-bee, as far as we can see, 

 is absolutely perfect in economising labour and wax. 



Thus, as I believe, the most wonderful of all known 

 instincts, that of the hive-bee, can be explained by 

 natural selection having taken advantage of numerous, 

 successive, slight modifications of simpler instincts; 

 natural selection having, by slow degrees, more and 

 more perfectly led the bees to sweep equal spheres at a 

 given distance from each other in a double layer, and to 

 build up and excavate the wax along the planes of inter- 



