NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE, 
INTRODUCTION. 
Every apiarist should be well informed, not only on the 
habits, but also on the Natural History of the Honey Bee. 
Man’s primeval state, no doubt, absolutely demanded 
honey—therefore to have neglected to produce such a crea- 
ture as the Honey Bee, so essential to the comfort of man, 
“for whom all things were made,’”’ would have been totally 
discordant with the well-known principles of universal and 
Divine benevolence. Could any song of birds in Eden’s 
enchanting bower surpass the mellifluous hum of the busy 
Bee? Could any sportive gambol, circling flight, sudden 
dart, or graceful curve of bird on the wing, equal the grace 
and beauty, the action and the science of her aerial sports 
or daily duties ? Could the combined aroma and symwmetri- 
cal form of the thousands of “ the flowers of Paradise” com- 
pare with the sweetness of her honey or the garniture of her 
store house ? Could any portion of “the garden,” which 
Adam was directed to “dress and keep,” present greater 
attraction, or have stronger claims upon his protection and 
care ? 
While Honey was “from the beginning” among the first 
of sweet things, and the sweetest of first things, given by the 
Creator to man,—sugar is, separated from its source and 
prepared for use by the hand of man, but of modern birth !— 
For thousands of years Honey was man’s only sweet, and 
source of nourishment,—but only for a short time has sugar 
had its partial sway—and that alone in modern times. The 
former was the creation and gift of God! The latter is 
the invention of man ! 
No historian has been able to transmit to our day, a 
