48 
THE HONEY-MAICERS. 
storehouses for honey, bee-bread, and eggs, nur- 
series and bedchambers for their young, and 
royal apartments for their queen. In the con- 
struction and arrangement of these, they display 
a skill which astonishes us. They solve by un- 
erring instinct the most difficult mathematical 
problems. Were we told to make from a certain 
quantity of wax a group of cells exactly alike in 
size and shape, and disposed in such a manner as 
to occupy the least possible space, with no waste of 
material, we should not find the problem an easy 
one. All our experience, skill, and mathemati- 
cal knowledge would be necessary, and if, in ad- 
dition, we were told that all the angles of our 
cells must be angles of the greatest strength, we 
should very likely fail in our attempts. But the 
bees readily accomplish this task ; they construct 
their comb upon the soundest principles of geom- 
etry, with no mistakes and no failures. Truly, 
“ the Lord giveth wisdom, and out of his mouth 
cometh knowledge and understanding.” 
It is impossible to look at a piece of comb 
taken from a hive, without wondering not only at 
its beauty, but its perfect regularity. It might 
