150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



best way to deal with such agents is to 

 show them the gate out of the yard, and 

 that quickly, too. The best hive that ever 

 was made, or can be made, is the plainest 

 frame hive a man can make at a low cost. 

 I prefer the Laugstroth, as it is the plain- 

 est and easiest to use I know of. 



It would take up too much space to go 

 into detail of my management of bees: 

 but I will say, anyone, managing skil- 

 fully and economically, as I have done, 

 can make bees pay. Pitching in at the 

 start, with capital, buying farm-rights, 

 and every useless appendage for bee cul- 

 ture, is a sure failure. Also following 

 such leaders as N. C. Mitchell is a flat 

 failure. R. M. Argo. 



Lowell, Ky., April 8, 1876. 



P. S. Will friend Bingham say that 

 the business of selling queens and full 

 colonies is not honest if the dealer is 

 honest and deals honestly with all his 

 customers ? I know all are not so. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Introduction or Early History of Bees 

 and Honey. 



The Natural History of the honey-bee 

 has been the marvel of all ages from the 

 time of Adam the greatest naturalist the 

 world ever produced, who well knew her 

 history when he named the bee "Deborah," 

 in the Hebrew, which means " she that 

 speaks, " and the bees speech is both as 

 sweet and as wise as that of her namesake 

 Deborah, whose wondrous song of victory 

 is written in the Book of Judges. Adam 

 knew that the bee was able to speak and 

 teach proud man, with all his boasted in- 

 tellect, many a wise saying if he was only 

 willing to learn at her school, and so he 

 gave lier that name. This was 4004, B. C. 

 The history of bees is found written in 

 hieroglyphics in tiie Pyramids of Egyjjt, 

 and on ancient tombs, long before writing 

 was discovered, and this proves that the 

 natural history and management of bees 

 occupied the attention of man at the ear- 

 liest period of which we have any record. 

 Surrounded by a boundless variety of liv- 

 ing creatures, he would naturally be led 

 to notice tlieir habits and economy ; and 

 no part of the world of insects, would be 

 more likely to engage his consideration 

 than the honey-bee. Honey would in all 

 probability, constitute one of his earliest 

 luxuries; and, as he advanced in civiliza- 

 tion, he would, as a matter of course, 

 avail himself of the industry of its col- 

 lectors, by bringing them as much as pos- 

 sible within his reach; and by this means 

 he would take an important step towards 

 an acquaintance wltli entomology. But 

 the progress made by our earliest progeni- 

 tors, in this or any other science, is in- 

 volved in the obscurity and uncertainty 



appertaining to the infancy of society and 

 the difficulty of writing its history in 

 hieroglyphics. 



The first indication of attention to the 

 bee's natural history is contained in the 

 Old Testament, where it is mentioned in 

 connection with honey and wax in no less 

 than twenty of the books. In Genesis 43 ; 

 11, the patriarch Jacob, in giving direc-* 

 tions to his Sons on going down into 

 Egypt a second time, tells them to " take 

 of the best fruits of the land," with them 

 — literally that which was praised the 

 most or " the song of the land " and 

 among others, he names "a little honey." 

 The things enumerated, as we are inform- 

 ed, grew well during a drought; and as a 

 famine now prevailed, would be more 

 highly appreciated in Egypt. Besides we 

 are led to the belief that honey was an ar- 

 ticle of commerce previous to this time — 

 Genesis 37 ; 25, and inferences drawn from 

 Homer and Herodotus at a later dale. The 

 whole of the twenty Books conclusively 

 prove, the care that was taken of the bees, 

 and how highly their produce was appre- 

 ciated; and in Solomon's Song 4; 11, 

 Christ's love for the Church is beautifully 

 expressed ; " Thy lips O my spouse, drop 

 as the honeycomb ; honey and milk are 

 under thy tongue; and the smell of thy 

 garments is like the smell of Lebanon." 



The records of its first progression are 

 however entirely lost, and no regular his- 

 tory of this science exists prior to the days 

 of Aristotle, 330 years before Christ; who 

 under tlie auspices and through the muni- 

 ficence of liis pupil Alexander the Great, 

 was called to prosecute with the greatest 

 advantage, for the time in which he lived, 

 his experiments and inquiries into every 

 department of natural history. Alexan- 

 der felt so strong a desire to promote this 

 object, that he placed at the disposal of 

 Aristotle a very large sum of money, and 

 in his Asiatic expedition employed above 

 a thousand person^^ in collecting and 

 transmitting to him specimens from every 

 part of the animal kingdom. Aristotle is 

 therefore to be regarded as having laid the 

 first foundation of our knowledge of that 

 kingdom. He must likewise have derived 

 great advantages from the discoveries and 

 observations of preceding writers, to 

 wliose works he would probably have 

 easy access. No individual naturalist 

 could without such assistance, havje pro- 

 duced so valuable and extensive a work 

 on natural science as that which Aristotle 

 has bequeatlied to posterity. And though 

 the opinions of himself and liis contem- 

 poraries have been transmitted to us in an 

 imperfect manner, and abound in errors, 

 still he and his illustrous pupil Theo- 

 plirastus, who succeeded him in the Lyce- 

 um, may be regarded as the only philo- 

 sophical naturalists of antiquity, whose 

 labors and discoveries present us with 

 an} portion of satisfaciory knowledge. 



