3 r 2 The Honey-Makers 



caverns within resound ; to the empty regions of air the 

 smoke ascends." 



We recall also the simile of the bees killed by smoke in 

 Lycophron's " Cassandra." ^ 



The ancient Greeks knew all that could be known con- 

 cerning the management of bees so far as this can be car- 

 ried on without the revelations of modern science. They 

 observed carefully and carefully recorded the results of 

 their observations, and the amount of information they 

 acquired is remarkable considering the crude methods of 

 scientific study then followed. 



Many mistakes of course crept into these observations, 

 and many absurdities were gravely recorded and handed 

 on by Aristotle, who wrote, however, with a sincerity and 

 straightforwardness as well as with a guarded manner of 

 expression that resembles the style of modern scientists. 

 His followers were often prone to embellish the facts, but 

 this Aristotle never does. 



The Roman Pliny, some four hundred years later than 

 Aristotle, wrote an elaborate treatise on bees as a part of 

 his " Natural History." His work has survived, and to-day 

 is the best known of the ancient works on nature, including 

 bees, though there were many other books written before 

 his time in which bees were considered. He himself tells 

 us : — 



" It is not surprising that there have been persons who 

 have made bees their exclusive study; Aristomachus of 

 Soli, for instance, who for a period of fifty-eight years did 

 nothing else ; Philiscus of Thasos, also, surnamed Agrius 

 (or the Svild man'), who passed his life in desert spots, 

 tending swarms of bees. Both of these have written works 

 on this subject." 



The Romans attained the greater part of their practical 

 1 Page 285. 



