x INTRODTCTION. 
lished on the subject, calculated to startle a 
sober reader ; and some of those discoveries 
which have been blazoned in publications, 
both at home and abroad, will be found, on 
strict examination, to have no existence but 
in the warm fancy or blind enthusiasm of 
the observers. hg incontrovertible facts 
in the natural history of the Bee, are, in 
themselves, too remarkable to justify any 
attempt to draw upon the imagination for 
additional wonder; and the naturalist who 
is desirous of making himself thoroughly 
acquainted with the instincts and habits of 
this interesting little creature, should be 
cautious in considering, as an established 
fact, any discovery, or supposed discovery, 
which has not been, again and again, verifi- 
ed by rigid experiment. 
In the following details, embracing the 
Natural History and Practical Management 
of the Honey Bee, I have endeavored to 
avoid this error; stating nothing as fact, but 
what I know to be so from undoubted testi- 
mony, or from my own knowledge and ex- 
