CHAPTER VIII. INSTINCT.
6. CELL-MAKING INSTINCT OF THE HIVE-BEE.
I will not here enter on minute details on this subject, but will merely
give an outline of the conclusions at which I have arrived. He must be a
dull man who can examine the exquisite structure of a comb, so beautifully
adapted to its end, without enthusiastic admiration. We hear from
mathematicians that bees have practically solved a recondite problem, and
have made their cells of the proper shape to hold the greatest possible
amount of honey, with the least possible consumption of precious wax in
their construction. It has been remarked that a skilful workman, with
fitting tools and measures, would find it very difficult to make cells of
wax of the true form, though this is effected by a crowd of bees working in
a dark hive. Granting whatever instincts you please, it seems at first
quite inconceivable how they can make all the necessary angles and planes,
or even perceive when they are correctly made. But the difficulty is not
nearly so great as at first appears: all this beautiful work can be shown,
I think, to follow from a few simple instincts.