BEES & BEEKEEPING. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Hive Bee, from the wonders of its social 

 economy calling into play instincts as remarkable 

 as they are inexplicable, has for many ages com- 

 manded the interest and the admiration of men ; 

 and since it is at least the storer of saccharine sub- 

 stances in a most convenient and delicious form, 

 which, before the general introduction of the sugar- 

 cane, supplied in a unique manner a human want, it 

 has been, during many centuries, associated with 

 mankind by a bond of necessity second only, 

 perhaps, to that which linked our forefathers to the 

 cow, the sheep, and the horse. Although we are 

 less dependent upon its untiring industry, its sweet 

 product and tuneful hum are as grateful as ever ; 

 while scientific investigation has shown to us that 

 the little labourer is a prodigy of wonders, of which 

 those of a hundred years since had not a suspicion ; 

 and, as revelation after revelation opens up before 



B 



