Preface 



The writer has had the privilege of visiting many of the 

 most extensive queen breeders of America, both north and south, 

 and has tried to present, in the following pages, all the best 

 methods of practice in use in these various apiaries. The book 

 is small, as it has been thought wise to make the descriptions 

 brief and to the point, rather than to elaborate them fully. 

 Beekeepers are usually busy men, and want facts presented as 

 simply and directly as possible in a book of this kind. 



The works of Alley, Doolittle, and Sladen have been freely 

 consulted, as well as various texts and bulletins on beekeeping. 

 An effort has been made to make the book worthy of its title, 

 "Practical Queen-Rearing," and methods not of practical 

 value have largely been eliminated. 



The illustrations for the most part have appeared in the 

 American Bee Journal, many of them in connection with the 

 author's contributions. A few have been borrowed from other 

 works, as indicated in the text. 



Beekeeping has shown a remarkable propensity toward 

 expansion during recent months, the tendency being more and 

 more toward specialization. The demand for good queens 

 has taxed even the most extensive yards to the limit. It is 

 with the hope that the methods here given will prove useful, 

 and that the man of experience, as well as the novice, may find 

 something of value in its pages, that this book is offered to the 

 public. 



FRANK C. PELLETT. 



Atlantic, Iowa, December 27, 1917. 



