Bees

What various wonders may observers see In a small insect, the sagacious bee! Mark how the little untaught builders square Their rooms, and in the dark their lodgings rear; Nature's mechanics they unwearied strive, And fill, with curious labyrinths, the hive. See what bright strokes of architecture shine Thro' the whole frame, what beauty, what design! Each odoriferous cell, and waxen tow'r, The yellow pillage of the rifled flow'r, Has twice three sides, the only figure fit To which the lab'rers may their stores commit, Without the loss of matter, or of room, In all the wond'rous structure of the comb Next view, spectator, with admiring eyes, In what just order all th' apartments rise! So regular their equal sides cohere, Th' adapted angles so each other bear, That by mechanic rules, refin'd and bold, They are at once upheld, at once uphold. Does not this skill ev'n vie with reason's reach? Can Euclid more, can more Palladio teach? Each verdant hill th' industrious chymists climb, Extract the riches of the blooming thyme; And provident of winter long before, They stock their caves, and hoard their flow'ry store. In peace they rule their state with prudent care, Wisely defend, or wage offensive war. Maro, these wonders offer'd to his thought, Felt his known ardor, and the rapture caught; Then rais'd his voice, and in immortal lays, Did high as heav'n the insect nation raise.