16 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
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it seems matter for wonder that the bees contrived 
to exist at all under such ingeniously complicated 
mismanagement, born, as it was, of an ignorance 
flawed by scarcely a single ascertained fact. But 
the truth stands out pretty clearly that bee-keeping 
two thousand years ago was really a very large 
and important industry. Oneapiary is mentioned 
by Varro as yielding five thousand pounds of honey 
yearly, while the annual produce of another brought 
in a sum of ten thousand sesterces. Pliny mentions 
the islands of Crete and Cyprus, and the coast- 
country of Africa, as producing honey in great 
abundance. Sicily was famous for the good 
quality of its beeswax, but Corsica seems to have 
been one of the main sources of this. When the 
island was subject to the Romans, it is said that a 
tribute of two hundred thousand pounds’ weight of 
wax was yearly exacted from it. This, however, 
is such an astounding figure that it must be taken, 
with a certain caution. 
Evidently the bees in the ancient world managed 
their business in fairly good fashion, in spite of the 
ignorance of their masters, or at least of the ancient 
chroniclers de ve rusteca, But it should always be 
borne in mind that the writers on husbandry and 
kindred subjects were seldom practical men, 
With the single exception, perhaps, of Virgil’s 
‘“‘Georgicon,” these old books relating to apiculture 
bear unmistakable evidence of being, for the most 
part, merely compilations from writings still more 
