62 
THE HONEY-MAKERS. 
pyramid with three rhombic sides, that is, the 
floor is sloping, being formed by three inclined 
planes. 
The equal distances between the combs, or 
the streets, as we called them a few sentences 
back, are of more importance than at first ap- 
pears. Were the combs too far apart, the bees 
would be so scattered that there would be diffi- 
culty in maintaining the heat necessary for hatch- 
ing the eggs and rearing the young. And if 
they were nearer together, the bees could not 
easily travel about and attend to the duties of 
the hive. 
The wonderful foresight of the bee is said to 
be especially manifest at the approach of a win- 
ter of unusual length, when, of course, they need 
to lay by a larger store of food than usual. At 
such times they lengthen the cells which con- 
tain the honey, and so are able to provide liber- 
ally for tbe coming winter. The space between 
the combs is by this operation proportionally 
lessened. Sometimes, also, when their busy sea- 
son is over, and less room is required, the streets 
are' made narrower. On the return of spring, 
