THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



149 



A GUIDE TO 

 THE BEST METHODS 

 BEEKEEPING.^ 



OF 



By J. L. Christ.2 



Introduction.^ 



In the great book of Nature, 

 which teaches us the deep wisdom 

 and power of God, the bees are 

 surely not to occupy the last page. 

 We find in the animal kingdom, 

 and among the insects, many crea- 

 tures endowed with wonderful skill 

 and acting with an intelligence 

 which we cannot fail to admire in 

 the brute creation. How artisti- 

 cally does the beaver construct his 

 dwelling, his storerooms and his 

 closets ! How artistically do they 

 saw the trees with their teeth and 

 build their dams, carrying the 

 earth and clay on the abdomen of 

 one whom four others drag along 

 by his feet ! How nicely the ant- 

 lion makes a funnel to catch his 

 prey ! With what regularity the 

 despised spider weaves her web 

 and ties the invisible knots ! And 

 yet, the skilful actions of these 

 and other animals and insects 

 which we admire bear no compari- 

 son with the intelligence of the 

 bees, where so many thousand 

 members are united in one purpose 

 and in such harmonious relation 

 as, with these winged insects, to 

 assume the for n of a government. 



The more wo study the home of 

 the bee, the more wonderful things 



1 Translated from the German. 



2 Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Rod- 

 heim. Second enlarged and improved edition, 

 printed at Frankfort and Leipzig, 1783. 



3 To first edition. 



we see in it. We find the deepest 

 respect and love for the sovereign, 

 the greatest interest for the ad- 

 vancement of her pleasure, a con- 

 stant watchfulness to serve and 

 protect her, a great love for their 

 fatherland — here, too, we find the 

 greatest harmony, an extraordinary 

 eagerness for work, the greatest un- 

 selfishness, together with the great- 

 est economy, the finest geometry 

 and a fine judgment. The lover of 

 nature will take pleasure in study- 

 ing such a home where all is so neat 

 so clever, so beautiful. Even if 

 he has watched its inmates atten- 

 tively for years, he discovers always 

 something new and instructive. 

 He will find so many things beyond 

 his comprehension that he will not 

 be surprised that so many bee-mas- 

 ters should differ in their views. 

 Is not nature varied in her laws, 

 and her ways past finding out? 



Bonnet, the great naturalist, 

 Avhois well known through his His- 

 tory of Insects, says : we must not 

 think we have thoroughly studied 

 the maxim of the wisdom of bees ; 

 we have only got as far in it as the 

 ABC, because it is a deep science. 

 We have not only the best guidance 

 to virtue in the example of the bees, 

 but they are often the cause for the 

 deepest meditation. As soon as 

 the bee is two or three days old, 

 she understands as well as the old 

 oee hovv to gather her honey and 

 wax, to build her cell with mathe- 

 matical precision, to guard the 

 colony and to defend her father- 

 land. Yes, she knows how to 

 help herself in cases which only oc- 

 cur perhaps in one of thousands of 



