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CONCLUSION 



I have done my best to give a good general outline 

 of the natural history of the honey-bee, and those 

 who have had the patience to follow the subject 

 to the end, will readily agree that the life and 

 activities of the hive are as multifarious and 

 complicated as those of any other natural polity. 



Very much remains to be discovered, and 

 although many of our greatest naturalists, as well 

 as thoughtful men in other departments of life, 

 have kept bees and watched them, there is always 

 something fresh to be learned. The mystery of 

 the methods of communication, the exact nature 

 of the sense organs, the curious physiological 

 phenomena connected with the reproduction of 

 the various sexes, these are well-defined problems 

 which provide a wide field of research for those 

 who are prepared to devote their time and energies 

 to systematic and patient observation. 



But to the vast majority of bee-keepers, it is not 

 the fascination of research nor the lure of profit 

 that attaches them to these wonderful little 

 creatures. Neither of these would make us love 



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