PREFACE. 



As the greyness of gloomy winter recedes before the clear 

 bright days of the Australasian spring, the most casual human 

 cannot fail to observe the industrious insects that crowd the 

 garden-flowers. "Yes!" he remarks, "Bees! look out they don't 

 sting you!" He sees the fertilising pollen heaped high on the 

 little labourer's legs — "See him gathering the wax!" Such is 

 the average man's ignorance of the honey-bee. Tell him of the 

 queen-bee's marvellous egg production and his interest is 

 aroused, he wants to enlarge his knowledge of the interesting 

 insects. 



This book, it is hoped, will enlighten the casual observer, and 

 prove valuable to the beginner who is the proud owner of a 

 solitary colony. The ambitious amateur working 20 or 30 hives 

 may, by steadily assimilating the information contained in this 

 volume, profitably expand his apiary until the increased income 

 in hard cash will convince him that he has progressed on sound 

 lines, without the usual costly elimination of the superfluous. 

 The author paid a high figure for the latter experience, and 

 the intelligent reader should benefit accordingly. 



The professional apiarist, operating hundreds of colonies 

 scattered through yards miles apart, will agree that "One 

 is never too old to learn." The oldest honey-grubber will 

 appreciate this book, which aims to be a thoroughly technical 

 treatise on Australasian Bee-farming, incorporating some new 

 information that will bear the test of practical use in the apiary. 



Though the industry has been firmly established for a number 

 of years, there is a total absence of literature dealing with the 

 honey-bearing flora of Australasia, and in this respect the book 

 breaks new ground. The botanical section is admittedly far 

 from complete, though no plant that yields a crop of honey has 

 been omitted, therefore it contains all that is practically required. 



