THE HONEY-BEE. 
29 
ments which can he attributed only to a want of 
cool and dispassionate inquiry. In fact, much has 
been written and published on the subject calculated 
to startle a sober reader; and some of those dis- 
coveries which have been blazoned in publications, 
both at home and abroad — though most frequently, 
perhaps, on the Continent — will be found, on strict 
examination, to have no existence but in the warm 
fancy or blind enthusiasm of the observers. The 
incontrovertible facts in the natural history of the 
Bee, are, in themselves, too remarkable to justify 
any attempt to draw upon the imagination for addi- 
tional wonder; and the Naturalist who is desirous 
of making himself thoroughly acquainted with the 
instincts and habits of this interesting little creature, 
should he cautious in considering, as an established 
fact, any discovery, or supposed discovery, which 
has not been, again and again, verified by rigid ex- 
periment. 
In the following details, embracing the Natural 
History and Practical Management of the Honey-Bee, 
we have endeavoured to avoid this error, stating 
nothing as fact, hut what we know to be so from 
undoubted testimony, or from our own knowledge 
and experience. At the same time, we have not 
omitted to notice such alleged discoveries or results 
of experiments, as appear to us to be unsupported 
by sufficient evidence, or at variance with experi- 
ments of our own, made for the express purpose of 
verification, leaving it to the reader to receive or re- 
ject them as his judgment may dictate. We have 
