THE HONEY-BEE. 20 



ments which can be attributed only to a want of 

 cool and dispassionate inquiry. In fact, much has 

 been written and published on the subject calculated 

 to startle a sober reader; and some of those dis- 

 coveries which have been blazoned in publications, 

 both at home and abroad though most frequently, 

 perhaps, on the Continent will be found, on strict 

 examination, to have no existence but in the warm 

 fancy or blind enthusiasm of the observers. The 

 incontrovertible facts in the natural history of the 

 Bee, are, in themselves, too remarkable to justify 

 any attempt to draw upon the imagination for addi- 

 tional wonder; and the Naturalist who is desirous 

 of making himself thoroughly acquainted with the 

 instincts and habits of this interesting little creature, 

 should be cautious in considering, as an established 

 fact, any discovery, or supposed discovery, which 

 has not been, again and again, verified by rigid ex- 

 periment. 



In the following details, embracing the Natural 

 History and Practical Management of the Honey-Bee, 

 we have endeavoured to avoid this error, stating 

 nothing as fact, but what we know to be so from 

 undoubted testimony, or from our own knowledge 

 and experience. At the same time, we have not 

 omitted to notice such alleged discoveries or results 

 of experiments, as appear to us to be unsupported 

 by sufficient evidence, or at variance with experi- 

 ments of our own, made for the express purpose of 

 verification, leaving it to the reader to receive or re- 

 ject them as his judgment may dictate. We have 



