Annual Report of the 
3d. Her size, shape and color are greatly changed, her lower jaws 
are shorter, head rounder, abdomen without the receptacles for 
secreting wax, legs have neither brushes or baskets, and sting is 
more curved and one-third longer than a worker’s. 
4th. Her instincts are entirely changed. As a worker she would 
have thrust out her sting at the least provocation; now she may be 
pulled limb from limb without attempting to sting. As a worker 
she would have treated a queen with the greatest consideration; 
now she destroys her as a rival. As a worker she would frequently 
have left the hive to labor; as a queen she never leaves after fertili¬ 
zation except with a new swarm. 
5tli. Her term of life is remarkably lengthened. As a worker 
she would not have lived more than from three to seven or eight 
months; as a queen she lives four years or more. 
All these wonders may now be demonstrated to any one who pre¬ 
fers an acquaintance with facts, to caviling at the labor of others. 
The workers, the smallest in size, are alike our wonder and admira¬ 
tion, whether we consider their unvarying God-implanted instinct 
in hoarding rich stores of honey for future use, or in their match¬ 
less architectural skill in building comb, or in their entire devotion 
to the queen’s welfare, and to that of her numerous maturing pro¬ 
gen}'. We must regard them as the most wonderful class of the 
insect family. 
Is it credible that these little insects can unite so many requisites 
in the contraction of their cells either by chance or because they 
are profoundly versed in the most intricate mathematics? Let it 
be required to find what shape a given quantity of matter must 
take in order to have the greatest capacity and strength; occupying 
at the same time the least space, consuming the least labor in its 
construction. When this problem is solved by the most refined 
mathematical piocess, the answer is the hexigon or six sided cell of 
the honey-bee, with its three, four sided figures at the base, the 
shape of which figures cannot be altered ever so little except for the 
worse. To an intelligent and candid mind the smallest piece of 
honey-comb is a perfect demonstration that there is a great first 
cause. 
