Prof. Cook's New Manual. 



This work is now out, and all orders, 

 heretofore sent us, are filled. Should we 

 have made any mistake, or failed to send as 

 ordered, we shall be glad to make amends 

 if informed of the fact. Being a great un- 

 dertaking, many delays have occurred, 

 even where least expected ; but we feel sure 

 all such will be overlooked when the book, 

 so neat and elegant, is received. Just as we 

 go to press, the following Keview from that 

 ripe scholar and critical observer— the Rev. 

 O. Clute, of Keokuk, Iowa, comes to hand, 

 and we give it in its entirety : 



When Prof. Cook's first " Manual of the 

 Apiary " appeared it supplied a want which 

 had been felt for some time among our bee- 

 keepers. The old standard works of Mr. 

 Langstroth and Mr. Quinby did not, of 

 course, deal with the apparatus and the 

 methods that have been invented or discov- 

 ered since they were written. So ynmvy 

 new and valuable things have been invent- 

 ed for the use of the bee-keeper, and so 

 many improved methods have come into 

 practice, that a work which should treat of 

 these clearly and briefly was much needed. 

 This need Prof. Cook's small Manual, to a 

 large extent, supplied. That the Manual 

 was appreciated is fully shown by the fact 

 that so large a number of copies were sold. 

 Practical bee-keepers, too, have generally 

 commended it as a valuable addition to the 

 literature of bee-keeping. It was impossi- 

 ble, however, in the compass of so small a 

 work, to treat the subject fully. Some im- 

 portant points were presented very briefly, 

 other points, nearly as Important, were 

 scarcely mentioned at all. Doubtless, it 

 was the desire to remedy these defects that 

 led Prof. Cook to revise and enlarge his 

 work in this second edition. It now comes 

 before us " revised, enlarged, mostly re- 

 written, and beautifully illustrated." 



As we read the book, it is plain that it 

 has been written out of the author's enthu- 

 siasm for a pursuit which for many years 

 has given him much pleasure. There is a 

 certain warmth in many of the sentences, 

 now and then rising to intensity, which 

 indicates a glow in the writer which could 

 have been roused only by a real devotion to 

 the work. Enthusiasm always gives an 

 attractive flavor to conversation. It is 

 equally attractive and desirable in books. — 

 The writer, whose words are warmed by his 

 own earnestness, is sure to rouse an inter- 

 est in his readers. It is safe to say that but 

 few who read Prof. Cook's book will lay it 

 down without desiring to own a few colo- 

 nies of bees for recreation ; probably, many 

 readers will desire to engage in it as a regu- 

 lar calling, hoping to achieve a success as 

 gratifying as that of Mr. Doolittle, Capt. 

 Hetherington, or Mr. Harbison. Prof. 

 Cook's enthusiasm is not that of a tyro. — 

 He has kept bees for years. He has expe- 

 rienced failures as well as successes. The 

 failures have only set him at work to learn 

 the causes of failure. Year by year, through 

 success and failure, he has come to wide 



experience and accurate, practical knowl- 

 edge, which appear on every page of this 

 work. 



In writing a treatise on bee-keeping, this 

 practical experience is essential, but it is 

 not the only essential. Scientific knowl- 

 edge is also needed ; thorough familiarity 

 with the structure and habits of the bee. — 

 It is fortunate, for those of us who are to be 

 helped by his work, that Prof. Cook brings 

 to that work a careful, scientific training, 

 and a special skill in observing the bee, 

 derived from several years of careful labor 

 in making observations of his own. In his 

 second chapter, on the anatomy and physi- 

 ology of the honey bee, he has, indeed, 

 availed himself of the able labors of his 

 predecessors in this department, but he has 

 also been a student himself, has verified the 

 observations of others and supplemented 

 them in some degree by his own. And in 

 the sixteenth chapter, on honey plants, his 

 scientific knowledge of botany has enabled 

 him to give us a better statement concerning 

 the plants from which the bees collect 

 honey than has been made before by any 

 writer. 



Unhappily, practical knowledge and scien- 

 tific training do not always give to their 

 possessors the skill to write the English 

 language with force and elegance. Of this 

 fact Prof. Cook is, to some extent, an ex- 

 ample. The style of this second edition is 

 much better than that of the first, but this 

 is not above criticism. Still, all who have 

 an interest in bee-keeping will be so glad to 

 welcome a practical book that is up with the 

 times that they will willingly overlook an 

 occasional faulty choice of words, or loose 

 construction of sentences. In its practical 

 aspect. Prof. Cook's book is exceedingly 

 valuable. His long experience as a teacher 

 enables him so to present his subject that 

 one who has never kept bees, and who has 

 never visited a practical bee-keeper and seen 

 his methods of work, can, if he has average 

 intelligence, learn the theory from this book 

 with sufficient accuracy to keep bees with 

 success. All the practical operations of the 

 apiary are presented in such way that all 

 persons who have a constructive imagination 

 can, as it were, actually see the work going 

 on before them. This, we take it, is the real 

 object of such a book. Success in this direc- 

 tion conies from the possession of the teach- 

 ing /acit/ty. It is because so many writers 

 do not have this faculty that books intended 

 to aid learners, in various kinds of practical 

 work, fail in accomplishing their purpose. 

 Prof. Cook has the spirit of the teacher. He 

 so approaches his subject, so explains and 

 illustrates it, that the reader is interested 

 and instructed. 



The numerous illustrations serve an excel- 

 lent purpose. A jjicture of an unfamiliar 

 object will give us instantly a better idea of 

 it than pages of words. The illustrations 

 are usually good, but now and then the art- 

 ist is at fault ; for instance, the queen-cells 

 on page 109 cannot be called a success. 



The publishers have done their work well. 

 It is a real pleasure to take up a book that 

 is printed on such tine book paper, with good 

 clear type. The binding, too, is neat, so that 

 the book presents an attractive appearance 

 to the eye. It is a book which does credit to 



