1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



409 



THE 



A B C of BEE CULTURE. 



■^ ♦•** -^ 



Li^OR several j r ears, it has been my ambition to be 

 -*- able to write a book on bee culture, so clear and 

 plain that not only any boy or girl, but even an old 

 man or woman, with the book and a hive of bees, 

 could learn modern bee culture, and make a fair, 

 paying business, even the first season. This is a great 

 undertaking, I grant; and it will require some one 

 with far greater wisdom than mine, to do it the first 

 time trying. After watching beginners, and an- 

 swering their questions almost constantly, for years, 

 I came to the conclusion, that the only way to do it 

 was to "cut and try," as carpenters say, when they 

 can't get the exact dimensions of the article they 

 wish to make. 



To cut and try on the ABC book, I have invested 

 over $2,000 in type, chases, etc., sufficient to keep 

 my whole book standing constantly in type, thatcan 

 be changed at a moment's notice. The books are 

 printed only as fast as wanted, and just as soon as I 

 see I have omitted anything, or have made any mis- 

 take, the correction is made before any more books 

 are sent out. To show you how it works, and how 

 it succeeds, I will give you an illustration. 



A beginner writes to know if it is of any use to 

 keep a queen, after she is eighteen days old and 

 does not lay. Now I know very well that a queen 

 should lay when from ten days to two weeks old; 

 ♦ and also, that they will sometimes not commence 

 until they are three weeks old, and then make good 

 queens. Now, although I directed that they should 

 be tossed up in the air, to see if their wings were 

 good, when they did not lay at two weeks of age, I 

 did not say, if their wings proved to be good, how 

 long we should keep them. If I could spare the 

 time of the colony, I would keep a good looking 

 queen that could tly well, until she is 25 days old; if 

 crowded for a place to put cells, I would kill all that 

 do not lay at 18 or 20 days old. 



I have just put the above in the ABC, and that is 

 just the way I am going to keep doing. You see, 

 you beginners are, ultimately, to build up the book. 



It will tell you all about the latest improvements 

 in securing and Marketing Honey, the new 1 

 ft. Section Honey Boxes, making Artificial 

 Honey Conib, Candy for Bees, Bee Hunt- 

 ing, Artificial Swarming, Bee Moth, all 

 about Hive Making, Diseases of Bees, 

 Drones, How to Make an Extractor, Ex- 

 tracted. Honey, Feeding and Feeders, Foul 

 Brood, Honey Conib, Honey Dew, Hy- 

 brids, Italianizing, King Birds, The Lo- 

 cust Tree, Moving Bees, The Lamp Nur- 

 sery, Migrnonnette, Milkweed, Mother- 

 wort, Mustard, Nucleus, Pollen, Pro- 

 polis, Queens, Rape, Raspberry, Ratan, 

 Bobbing, Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, 

 Sage, Smokers, including instructions for ma- 

 king with illustrations, Soldering, Sourwood, 

 Stings, Sumac, Spider Flower, Sunflower, 

 Swarming, Teasel, Toads, Transferring, 

 Turuip, Uniting Bees, Veils, Ventilation, 

 Vinegar, "Wax, Water fou* Bees, "Whlte- 

 wood, and Wintering. It also includes a 

 Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations used 

 in Bee Culture. 



The book, as it is now, contains about 

 300 pages and about 200 Engravings. 



Bound in paper, mailed for $1.00. At wholesale, 

 same price as Gleanings, with which it may be 

 clubbed. One copy, $1.00; 2 copies, $1.90; three cop- 

 ies, $2.75; five copies, $4.00; ten copies, $7.50. 



The same, neatly bound in cloth, with the covers 

 neatly embellished in embossing and gold, one copy, 

 $1.25; 2 copies, $2.40; three copies, $3.50; five cop- 

 ies, $5.25; ten copies, $10.00. If ordered by freight 

 or express, the postage may be deducted, which will 

 be 12c on the book in paper, and 15c each, on the 

 book in cloth. 



A. I. ROOT, Medina, O. 



