INTRODUCTION 



THE OLDEST CRAFT UNDER THE SUN 



ONE of the oldest and prettiest fables i 

 ancient mythology is that which deals wit 

 the origin of the honey-bee. It was to Meliss 

 and her sister Amalthea, the beautiful daughtei 

 of the King of Crete, that the god Jupiter wa 

 entrusted by his mother Ops, when Saturn, hi 

 father — following his custom of devouring hi 

 children at birth — sought to make the usual me: 

 of this, his latest offspring. 



The story is variously rendered by ancier 

 writers. Some say that bees already existed i 

 the world, and that Amalthea was only a goa 

 whose milk served to nourish the baby-god, i 

 addition to the honey that Melissa obtained frot 

 the wild bees in the cave where Jupiter lay hiddei 

 Another account has it that the bees themselve 

 were drawn to his place of concealment by tl; 

 noise made by his nurses, who beat continuall 



