| → OMIT 1872 |
| as he adds, 1866 1869 |
|
| → have the power of forming 1866 1869 1872 |
| make 1859 1860 1861 |
|
| → in wood, apparently 1872 |
| apparently 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → to a certain extent; 1872 |
| largely; 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| ↑ 2 blocks not present in 1872; present in 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
| We have further to suppose, but this is no difficulty, that after hexagonal prisms have been formed by the intersection of adjoining spheres in the same layer, she can prolong the hexagon to any length requisite to hold the stock of honey; in the same way as the rude humble-bee adds cylinders of wax to the circular mouths of her old cocoons.
By such modifications of instincts in themselves not very wonderful,— hardly more wonderful than those which guide a bird to make its nest,— I believe that the hive-bee has acquired, through natural selection, her inimitable architectural powers.
|
|
| →
(
i.e.
1869 1872 |
|
(
i
.
e
.
1859 |
|
(
I. e.
1860 1861 |
|
(
i.e
1866 |
|
| → one-sixth 1872 |
| one sixth of 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
| → the sphere of which they 1872 |
| which they 1859 1860 1861 1866 1869 |
|
|
workmanship of the bee has been greatly exaggerated; so much so,
→OMIT
whatever the typical form of the cell may be, it is rarely, if ever, realised. |
|
|
we may safely conclude
if we could slightly modify the instincts already possessed by the Melipona, and in themselves not very wonderful, this bee would make a structure as wonderfully perfect as that of the hive-bee. We must suppose the Melipona to
→have the power of forming
her cells truly spherical, and of equal sizes; and this would not be very surprising, seeing that she already does so to a certain extent, and seeing what perfectly cylindrical burrows
many insects
→in wood, apparently
by turning round on a fixed point. We must suppose the Melipona to arrange her cells in level layers, as she already does her cylindrical cells; and we must further suppose, and this is the greatest difficulty, that she can somehow judge accurately at what distance to stand from her fellow-labourers when several are making their spheres; but she is already so far enabled to judge of distance, that she always describes her spheres so as to intersect
→to a certain extent;
and then she unites the points of intersection by perfectly flat surfaces. By such modifications of instincts which in themselves are not very wonderful,— hardly more wonderful than those which guide a bird to make its nest,— I believe that the hive-bee has acquired, through natural selection, her inimitable architectural powers. ↑
|
|
| But this theory can be tested by experiment. Following the example of Mr. Tegetmeier, I separated two combs, and put between them a long, thick,
strip of wax: the bees instantly began to excavate minute circular pits in it; and as they deepened these little pits, they made them wider and wider until they were converted into shallow basins, appearing to the eye perfectly true or parts of a sphere, and of about the diameter of a cell. It was most interesting to
observe
wherever several bees had begun to excavate these basins near together, they had begun their work at such a distance from each other, that by the time the basins had acquired the
width
→
(
i.e.
about the width of an ordinary cell), and were in depth about
→one-sixth
of the
of
→the sphere of which they
formed a part, the rims of the basins intersected or broke into each other. As soon as this occurred, the bees ceased to excavate, and began to build up flat walls of wax on the lines of intersection between the basins, so that each hexagonal prism was built upon the
edge of a smooth basin, instead of on the straight edges of a three-sided pyramid as in the case of ordinary cells. |
|
| I then put into the hive, instead of a thick,
piece of
|
