INTRODUCTION 
THE OLDEST CRAFT UNDER THE SUN 
NE of the oldest and prettiest fables in 
ancient mythology is that which deals with 
the origin of the honey-bee. It was to Melissa 
and her sister Amalthea, the beautiful daughters 
of the King of Crete, that the god Jupiter was 
entrusted by his mother Ops, when Saturn, his 
father—following his custom of devouring his 
-children at birth—sought to make the usual meal 
_ of this, his latest offspring. 
The story is variously rendered by ancient 
‘writers. Some say that bees already existed in 
the world, and that Amalthea was only a goat, 
whose milk served to nourish the baby-god, in 
addition to the honey that Melissa obtained from 
the wild bees in the cave where Jupiter lay hidden. 
Another account has it that the bees themselves 
were drawn to his place of concealment by the 
noise made by his nurses, who beat continually 
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