The Origin of Species Chapter 8 Part 2 - Instinct

In which the remarkable architectural instincts of bees are examined with delicate care, revealing how simple modifications in behaviour could yield the exquisite hexagonal comb, constructed with economy and strength through the gradual workings of natural selection. Further consideration is given to the perplexing case of sterile insects, whose divergent forms and labours within colonies offer compelling illustrations of how slight inherited variations, selected at the family level, may produce complex social castes and instincts without direct transmission by the sterile individuals themselves.