Abstract

The Origin of species is often seen as a turning point in nineteenth-century biology, but arguments that commenced before its publication were not immediately resolved by its publication. In this paper, I examine the debate about bee cell construction; whether bees built hexagonal cells or not, and how this instinct could evolve. Bees were of particular importance to natural theologians as examples of God’s design in nature. Other naturalists sought to explain their complex behaviour without invoking design, but there was still no agreement on how bees were able to make their cells so perfect. The work of Charles Darwin and William Tegetmeier on this subject sought to settle the controversy; yet their experiments and arguments did not convince everyone in the apiarian world