The Progress of the Race 



the other, banishes for all time the living 

 elements of the problem, and explains 

 nothing, 



[ 104] 

 Of wild bees approximately 4500 vari- 

 eties are known. It need scarcely be said 

 that we shall not go through the list. 

 Some day, perhaps, a profound study, 

 and searching experiments and observa- 

 tions of a kind hitherto unknown, that 

 would demand more than one lifetime, 

 will throw a decisive light upon the his- 

 tory of the bee's evolution. All that 

 we can do now is to enter this veiled re- 

 gion of supposition, and, discarding all posi- 

 tive statement, attempt to follow a tribe 

 of hymenoptera in their progress towards 

 a more intelligent existence, towards a little 

 more security and comfort, lightly indi- 

 cating the salient features of this ascen- 

 sion that is spread over many thousands 

 387 



