PUBLISHERS’ PREFACE 
In beekeeping, as in all pursuits, there are always many 
people just starting in the business, and one of the oft recurring 
questions that are asked has been, ‘‘ How can I make a start with 
bees?’’ To answer this question properly we engaged My. E. D. 
Townsend, one of the best authorities in bee culture, and who 
produces honey by the carload, to write a special series of articles 
having to do primarily with the problems that beset every person 
who starts this most fascinating of nature studies. These duly 
appeared in our journal, GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. As 
they were received with such wide-spread enthusiasm, we decided 
to incorporate them in book form. 
Mr. Townsend is peculiarly fitted for giving instructions along 
these lines, since he himself learned, by dear experience, how to 
. avoid the common mistakes of an amateur, and, with practically 
nothing to start with, built up what is probably the most extensive 
business in connection with bees in the great State of Michigan. 
Moreover, he has never been carried away, so to speak, by fads 
and fancies; his advice always bristles with practical common 
sense. 
It is hoped that by compiling these articles in book form we 
are going to “‘ fill a long-felt want.’ 
THE A. I. ROOT COMPANY. 
June 1, 1914. 
