PREFACE. 



ENCOURAGED by the favor with which the former edi 

 tions of this work have been received, I submit to the 

 public a Revised Edition, illustrated by additional wood- 

 cuts, and containing my latest discoveries and improv'c- 

 ments. The information which it presents, is adapted not 

 only to those who use the Movable-Comb Hive, but to all 

 who aim at profitable bee-keeping, with any hive, or on 

 any system of management. 



Debarred, to a great extent, by ill-health, from the ap- 

 propriate duties of my profession, and compelled to seek 

 an employment calling me as much as possible into the 

 open air, I cherish the hope that my labors in an impor- 

 tant department of Rural Economy, may prove service- 

 able to the community. Bee-keeping is regarded^ in 

 Europe as an intellectual pursuit, and no one who studies 

 the wonderful habits of this useful insect, will ever find 

 the materials for new observations exhausted. The Cre- 

 ator has stamped the seal of his Infinity on all his works, 

 so that it is impossible, even in the minutest, " by search- 

 ing to find out the Almighty to perfection." In none 

 vii 



