4 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
values the legacy of accumulated observation we 
inherit, or that he has any intention of replacing the 
individual experience of others, except in the spirit 
of the ancient and wise admonition, “ Prove all 
things, and hold fast that which is good.” He thus 
trusts that he may be saved everywhere from the 
teaching of error ; but if, unhappily, not, he can only 
say, time is with the truth, and may it quickly prevail ! 
A mere fragment of space will be devoted to the 
history of apiculture (of which enough and to spare 
has been written in most guide-books), all our 
attention being needed for the subject as it now 
presents itself, since our difficulty consists in saying 
all that seems desirable within the limits of a read- 
able book. The ancient workers did indeed well, 
and should spur on our efforts, for freely we have 
received, and it is for us to freely give : but their 
methods of investigation were crude, and their hives 
clumsy, while the microscopy and chemistry of their 
day were valueless ; and, unfortunately, their short- 
comings in methods of investigation were made up, 
in many cases, by a fertility of imagination which 
has given currency to fancies from which we have 
not even yet shaken ourselves clear. In recent 
times progress has been rapid, for practical apicul- 
ture is an art which has, during the last forty 
years, not only undergone a complete revolution, 
but has attained a development and multiplicity of 
detail which would have bewildered our immediate 
predecessors. It is often said that improvement 
leads to simplification ; but this is only in a certain 
sense true. The stage coach is not more simple 
