The Progress of the Race 
of years. The tribe in question is already 
known to us; it is that of the ‘* Apiens,” 
whose essential characteristics are so distinct 
and well marked that one is inclined to 
credit all its members with one common 
ancestor.! 
The disciples of Darwin, Hermann Miller 
among others, consider a little wild bee, 
the Prosopis, which is to be found all over 
the universe, as the actual representative of 
the primitive bee whence all have issued that 
are known to us to-day. 
The unfortunate Prosopis stands more or 
less in the same relation to the inhabitants 
of our hives as the cave-dwellers to the 
fortunate who live in our great cities. You 
will probably more than once have seen her 
fluttering about the bushes, in a deserted 
corner of your garden, without realising 
1 It is important that the terms we shall successively 
employ, adopting the classification of M. Emile Blan- 
chard—Apiens, Apidz, and Apitea—should not be con- 
founded. The tribe of the Apiens comprises all families 
of bees. The Apide constitute the first of these families, 
and are subdivided into three groups: the Melipone, 
the Apitz, and the Bombi (humble-bees). And, finally, 
the Apitz include all the different varieties of our domestic 
bees. 
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