1885 ANTIQUE BOOK BEEKEEPING WHO WAS THE FIRST ARCHITECT APIARY HIVE HONEY
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1885 ANTIQUE BOOK BEEKEEPING WHO WAS THE FIRST ARCHITECT APIARY HIVE HONEY:
$49.99
\"Make the past your present\"
Just when you thought you knew every antique publication about our friend, the honey bee, along comes this very scarce book. This little gem is just a joyous celebration about everything that is wonderful regarding this fascinating insect. Written for the juvenile, this book is far from just story-telling. It includes all of the dynamics and fundamental workings and habits of the bee. What makes this book really fun is the format of a father telling his son all about the \"first architect\". It includes so much scientific information but is very enjoyable and easy to read. It includes 40 illustrations and a fantastic full color frontispiece that is just spectacular.
The title of this book is:
WHO WAS THE
FIRST ARCHITECT?
OR
BEES AND BEE-HIVES
WITH FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS
\"For ages Man has praised the toiling Bee,
As primal type of skillful industry:
We boastful may our sumptuous piles erect,
But learned we not of her, her the first Architect!\"
London: T. Nelson and Sons, Paternoster Row.
Edinburgh: and New York.
1885
This book was recently acquired and straight from the U.K. This is the very first time it has been offered here for your careful consideration. If you love beekeeping and are always searching for that elusive and scarce book, then you should absolutely not miss this incredible, possibly once in a lifetime opportunity.
Following is an excerpt from the first chapter of the book. This is such a charming and lovely work, it must be seen to be truly appreciated.
WHO WAS THE FIRST ARCHITECT?CHAPTER I.INTRODUCTORY.MR. WALTERS and his son were sitting intheir garden one fair summer afternoonwith the leafy shelter of a fine treeabove them, and the landscape of a joyous country round them, when Charlie,who had long been contemplating thenoble, stately tower of the village church on theneighbouring hill, suddenly exclaimed, \"Whatgreat architects there must have been in the olddays, papa!\"
\"Yes, indeed, men who built out of a genuinelove of their art, and a spirit of devotion, puttingtheir best powers into all their work, and allow-ing of nothing mean, shabby, or superficial.\"
...
Following an excerpt from the chapter regarding Other Kinds of Bees and Their Ways:
VERY curious species of solitary \'leaf-cutting\' bees has been called thePoppy-Bee (Osmia papaveris), because she adorns her cell with therich scarlet hangings of the poppy.\"The cell itself consists of a holeburrowed in a bank or heap of earth; it is generally about three inches deep, gradually wideningas it descends, until it assumes the form of a smallFlorence oil-flask. The bee renders the interiorof this tunnel as smooth, polished, and uniform aspossible, so that it may be fitted for the receptionof the tapestry with which it is intended to bedecorated.
\"The insect-upholsterer, as she has been called,betakes herself, so soon as her cell is complete, tothe nearest scarlet field-poppy, from which shesuccessively cuts off small oval pieces, seizes thembetween her legs, and conveys them to the nest.Beginning at the bottom, she lays down three orfour leaves, one upon another, and then decoratesthe sides of her cell with two. If the pieceshe has brought is too large to fit the placeintended, she cuts off what is superfluous, andcarries away the refuse. If you cut the fresh petalof a poppy with a pair of scissors, you will seehow difficult it is to keep the piece so cut fromwrinkling and shrivelling; but the bee is ableto spread the pieces which she uses as smooth asglass.
\"Having thus tapestried her little apartmentwith glowing scarlet, she fills it with the pollenof flowers mixed with honey, to the height ofabout half an inch. In this accumulation ofprovisions she lays an egg, and over the egg shepulls the edges of her poppy-curtain. The upperpart is then carefully filled in with earth.\"Rennie says, and very rightly, that it will,perhaps, be impossible ever to ascertain, beyonda doubt, whether the poppy-bee is induced toselect the dazzling petals of the poppy from theircolour, or from any other quality they may possess—such, for instance, as warmth or softness.The great French philosopher, Reaumur, thinksthat her choice is determined by the largeness andflexibility of the poppy-leaves. Yet I wouldpresume to say, with Mr. Rennie, that it is quitepossible her eye may be gratified by the appear-ance of her nest; that she may possess a feelingof the beautiful in colour, as most birds do, andmay look\' well-pleased on the rich hangings ofthe chamber prepared for her offspring.
\"\' Why,\' says Rennie, \'should not an insect besupposed to have a glimmering of the value ofornament? Considering how little we know ofthe way in which the inferior animals think andact, what right have we to say that all they do isfor usefulness, and not for pleasure? If a doghowls at the sound of a bugle, is it not because itoffends its organs of hearing ?\'\"
\"And,\" interrupted Charlie, \"if spiders comeforth from their dens at the sound of a flute, is itnot because the sweet music pleases their organsof hearing?\"
Includes the following:
Chapter I. Introduction
Chapter II. Different Kinds of Bees
Chapter III. General Sketch of the Habits of Bees
Chapter IV. The Bee-Hive
Chapter V. The Mason-Bee
Chapter VI. The Carpenter-Bee
Chapter VII. The Humble-Bee
Chapter VIII. Other Kinds of Bees and Their Ways
List of Illustrations (there are additional vignettes that are untitled):
The Cottager\'s Treasure (color plate frontispiece)
The Beehive in the Garden
Gathering Pollen
Cylinder, Octagon
The Bee (Working, Male, Female)
A Drone Bee
Leg and Tarsus of Drone Bee
Portion of Hive, Showing the Royal and Ordinary Cells
Bees
Leg of a Bee
Cluster of Bees
Enlarged Foundation Wall, Cells Commenced, Cells Commenced
Cells of a Bee-Hive
The Cells
The Bees at Work
The Mason-Bee
Nest of the Mason Bee, Section of Nest
The Carpenter-Bee
Galleries Formed by the Carpenter-Bee
Floor of the Cell
Nests of the Carpenter-Bee
Tools of the Carpenter-Bee
Megchile Willoughbiela (Leaf-Cutting Bees)
Pupae of the Carpenter-Bee in Their Nurseries
Male Humble-Bee
Nests of the Moss Humble-Bee
Another Example of the Humble-Bee\'s Nest
Cells from a Humble-Bee\'s Nest
Please take a moment to enjoy the following pictures below. I think you\'ll agree that this little jack-pot find is a must have for your library. Don\'t miss \"Who Was the First Architect\", an original 1885 publication as it is truly doubted another will be offered in the future.
More about this book: It has hardbound, embossed covers. The front cover has a pictorial pastedown of a rose and the title is captured in gold gilt. The spine has the title embossed. The book measures approx. 6 1/4\" x 4 1/4\" with 72 pages. Extensively illustrated throughout.
Shipping &c.: Winning buyer pays $3.50 First Class Mail in the U.S. International buyers always welcome and shipping will be via First Class International mail to be paid by high buyer. Returns accepted only if item not properly described, however please check my excellent 100% positive response that attests to good item description. Thanks for looking, thanks for function disabletext(e){return false}function reEnable(){return true}//if the browser is IE4+document.onselectstart=new Function (\"return false\")//if the browser is NS6if
1885 ANTIQUE BOOK BEEKEEPING WHO WAS THE FIRST ARCHITECT APIARY HIVE HONEY:
$49.99