On the Threshold of the Hive 



curious experiments and researches in his 

 gardens at Charenton, and devoted to the 

 bees an entire volume of his " Notes to 

 Serve for a History of Insects." One 

 may read it with profit to-day, and with- 

 out fatigue. It is clear, direct, and sin- 

 cere, and possessed of a certain hard, arid 

 charm of its own. He sought especially 

 the destruction of ancient errors; he him- 

 self was responsible for several new ones ; 

 he partially understood the formation of 

 swarms and the political establishment 

 of queens ; in a word, he discovered 

 many difficult truths, and paved the way 

 for the discovery of more. He fully 

 appreciated the marvellous architecture 

 of the hive ; and what he said on the 

 subject has never been better said. It is 

 to him, too, that we owe the idea of the 

 glass hives, which, having since been 

 perfected, enable us to follow the entire 

 private life of these fierce insects, whose 



II 



