vi PREFACE. 



and received the cognomen of " The Bee-man ;" and 

 by this name he was -well known for thirty years in 

 a wider circle than the parish of Carluke, Lanark- 

 shire, in which he resided. The district of the 

 parish in which he lived when he kept most hives, 

 took then the name of " Honey Bank," which it still 

 bears. While a common labouring man he saved a 

 great deal of money from his bees ; indeed it was 

 reported in the Glasgow newspapers that he realised 

 £100 profit from them, one season. His example 

 and success have, twenty-five years after his death, 

 not yet lost their influence on the successful bee- 

 keepers of Carluke, who say, "The old bee-man 

 taught us aU we know." The bee-man saved money 

 enough to purchase the Black Bull Inn of the village, 

 and therein commence business as a publican and 

 butcher. When his sons reached their teens, the 

 management of his bees was left in great measure to 

 them. It was then that the foundation of what I 

 know of bees was laid ; and though I left my native 

 village thirty-five years ago, I am stOl known there 

 as " the bee-man's son." As most readers of a book 

 like to know a little of the author, I may be par- 

 doned the egotism of saying, that at the age of eight- 

 een I was apprenticed to the occupation of gardening 

 at Carstairs House. In about four years afterwards 

 I went to London to pursue my business. While an 

 apprentice at Carstairs, and a journeyman in Middle- 

 sex, I kept bees in " hidden places " in the planta- 

 tions and shrubberies; and while acting in the 

 capacity of head gardener, managed the bees of my 



