Vil 
THE PROGRESS OF THE RACE 
99 
Berore closing this book—as we have closed 
the hive on the torpid silence of winter—I 
am anxious to meet the objection invariably 
urged by those to whom we reveal the as- 
tounding industry and policy of the bees. 
Yes, they will say, that is all very wonderful; 
but then, it has never been otherwise. The 
bees have for thousands of years dwelt under 
remarkable laws, but during those thousands 
of years the laws have not varied. For 
thousands of years they have constructed 
their marvellous combs, to which we can 
add nothing, from which we can take 
nothing ; combs that unite in equal perfec- 
tion the science of the chemist, the geome- 
trician, the architect, and the engineer; but 
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