HINTS ON THE
HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE
HONEY BEE;
BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF TWO LECTURES
READ BEFORE THE MEMBERS OF THE HEREFORD LITERARY,PHILOSOPHICAL, AND ANTIQUARIAN INSTITUTION,IN THE WINTER OF 1850-51,
BY
EDWARD BEVAN, M.D.
HEREFORD:
PRINTED AT THE TIMES OFFICE, WIDEMARSH-STREET.
MDCCCLI.
This Lecture elicited so much approbation asto induce the Author to have a few copies printed,for the amusement and instruction of those whomay feel an interest in the subject.
HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT
OF THE
HONEY BEE.
Dr. Bevan (the author of a well-known and admirablemanual for apiarians) took as the theme of his paper the
HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE.
The learned gentleman began by saying,—Mr. President.Ladies, and Gentlemen—You have before you a very oldman, but a very young lecturer; so young that this is thefirst time in my life that I ever was induced to address apublic assembly. Nor might I have summoned courageenough to do so now, but for the very powerful appealwhich was made to us all by our worthy President in hisinaugural address, wherein, after the manner of the immortalNelson, he admonished us that every member ofthis Society is expected to do his duty—that is to say, thatindividual attainments should be thrown into a commonstock, from which each might draw, and to which eachmight contribute, with reciprocal benefit. In obedienceto this admonition, and in furtherance of its laudable object,I now proceed to throw in my mite of information.—Thesubject to which I have the honor and the pleasureto bespeak your attention this evening is the history andmanagement of that indefatigable Little insect the honeybee. But, it is a subject on which I hardly know how to- 6 -address such an assembly, owing to the various degrees ofinformation which must needs be distributed among you.Some of you I imagine to have a very limited acquaintancewith bees, for the majority of those with whom I have conversedin other places respecting them have had theirwhole knowledge comprised in being simply aware thatthey can sting and gather honey. To such of my auditors,if any such there be, it would seem right that I shouldcommence with the A B C of the subject, even at the riskof proving tiresome to those who are more extensively informed;and some there are here present, I have no doubt,who know as much about the matter as I do, perhapsmore. From such I can only bespeak indulgence. Of allthe various members of the insect race, there is none whichso abounds with useful lessons, or is more fraught withwonder, than the honey bee From the earliest ages it isfound to have occupied the thoughts and the pens of thephilosopher, the poet, and the moralist; and whether we considerits instincts, or its contributions to our comfort andconvenience, there is scarcely one tha