m.

"Furthermore, the bottoms of the cells form three planes meeting at
one point, and it has been demonstrated that both in economy of labor
and material this system of construction is the best--again, the angle
of the inclination of the planes affects this question of economy:
this problem has been solved by the bees and confirmed by Maclaurin by
abstruse mathematical calculations published in the "Transactions of
the Royal Society of London.""

Of course I do not suppose for a moment that the bees themselves have
made these calculations, but on the other hand I do not believe that
chance, or accidental circumstance has brought about, these results.
The wasps, for instance, have built hexagonal cells, but they have not
displayed such ingenuity as the bees have done. Their combs have only
one course of cells, and they have not the foundation which serves the
bees for their double rows. Hence there is less strength, more
irregularity, and a loss of time, of material, and of room, which
really means that a quarter of the labor employed and a third of the
space occupied is lost. We also find certain other domesticated bees,
not so far progressed in civilization, which only build one row of
cells for rearing their young, and which support horizontal combs one
above another on costly columns of wax. Their food store-cells, are
like a row of round pots, and the bees make but a clumsy use of the
spaces between them. Indeed, when we compare their City with the
Wonderful City of the bees of which we are speaking, it is like
comparing a row of huts with a modern laid out city. If the result is
not charming, it is severely logical, and demonstrates the genius of
the race which is forever fighting to get the most out of matter,
space, and time.

Buffon had a theory which has been revived once more, that the bees
did not intend to make hexagonal cells, but rather round ones, and
that owing to the crowding of the workers all around, the round ones
became hexagonal. It is said also that crystals, fish-scales of
certain kinds, soap-bubbles, etc., follow the same law, and Buffon
advances this experiment to prove it. "Take a vessel and fill it full
with peas or any other round grains, pour as much water upon them as
will fill the spaces between them, close the vessel tightly, and boil
the water. It will be found that the round peas have become six-sided.
One sees clearly that this must be so from purely mechanical causes;
each one o