Page:Creation by Evolution (1928).djvu/234

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

CREATION BY EVOLUTION

cavernous structure, such as a hollow tree; or maybe they are enticed into a skip, or hive, by a beemaster. Then their first task is to clean out their new home, smoothing out the walls, and next the worker bees begin to produce wax. A row of them hang on to the top of the hive, and they

Fig. 4.—Bees swarming.

support a second row, and these a third, and so on until they have a living string or network of bees hanging from the roof. All these bees are producing wax, and in order to do this they must be fed on honey. The wax is secreted by the hinder part of the bee, pressed forward by the legs, and shaped and moulded by the jaws (Fig. 5) . Parallel with this veil of bees will be a second and a third, and maybe more; and every member of the veil is passing wax forward up to the top, where a waxen foundation for the honeycomb is being formed. As soon as a stout foundation has been laid the veil of wax workers breaks up and the bees begin to work independently of one another. Now they add their film of wax indiscriminately to one or another part of the comb. The whole of this procedure seems thoroughly unorganized. None of the bees have ever seen a honeycomb before. They are all working in complete darkness. They have no one to direct them, no foreman or master builder, yet so accurate are the results of their work that the cells they make are of uniform size and are so arranged that each cell is hexagonal in cross section—and a six-sided structure contains

[ 188 ]