Judgingbywhathasgonebefore，thereaderwillperhapsexpecttoseeimmediaterepairs，urgentrepairs，forthesafetyofthefuturelarvaisatstake。Lethimdismissanysuchillusion：moreandmorejourneysareundertaken，nowinquestoffood，nowinquestofmortar；butnotoneoftheMason-beestroublesaboutthedisastrousbreach。Theharvestergoesonharvesting；thebusybricklayerproceedswithhernextrowofbricks，asthoughnothingoutofthewayhadhappened。
Lastly，iftheinjuredcellsarehighenoughandcontainenoughprovisions，theBeelayshereggs，putsadoortothehouseandpassesontoanotherhouse，withoutdoingaughttoremedytheleakageofthehoney。Twoorthreedayslater，thosecellshavelostalltheircontents，whichnowformalongtrailonthesurfaceofthenest。
IsitthroughlackofintelligencethattheBeeallowsherhoneytogotowaste？Mayitnotratherbethroughhelplessness？ItmighthappenthatthesortofmortarwhichtheMasonhasatherdisposalwillnotsetontheedgesofaholethatisstickywithhoney。Thehoneymaypreventthecementfromadjustingitselftotheorifice，inwhichcasetheinsect’sinertnesswouldmerelyberesignationtoanirreparableevil。Letuslookintothematterbeforedrawinginferences。Withmyforceps，IdeprivetheBeeofherpelletofmortarandapplyittotheholewhencethehoneyisescaping。Myattemptatrepairingmeetswiththefullestsuccess，thoughIdonotpretendtocompetewiththeMasonindexterity。Forapieceofworkdonebyaman’shanditisquitecreditable。Mydabofmortarfitsnicelyintothemutilatedwall；ithardensasusual；andtheescapeofhoneyceases。Thisisquitesatisfactory。Whatwoulditbehadtheworkbeendonebytheinsect，equippedwithitstoolsofexquisiteprecision？WhentheMason-beerefrains，therefore，thisisnotduetohelplessnessonherpart，nortoanydefectinthematerialemployed。
Anotherobjectionpresentsitself。Wearegoingtoofarperhapsinadmittingthisconcatenationofideasintheinsect’smind，inexpectingittoarguethatthehoneyisrunningawaybecausethecellhasaholeinitandthattosaveitfrombeingwastedtheholemustbestopped。Somuchlogicperhapsexceedsthepowersofitspoorlittlebrain。Then，again，theholeisnotseen；itishiddenbythehoneytricklingthrough。Thecauseofthatstreamofhoneyisanunknowncause；andtotracethelossoftheliquidhometothatcause，totheholeinthereceptacle，istooloftyapieceofreasoningfortheinsect。
Acellintherudimentarycup-stageandcontainingnoprovisionshasahole，threeorfourmillimetres（。11to。15inch。——Translator’sNote。）