a PREFACE. 



now, by the majority, deemed a hazardous enterprise 

 The ravages of the moth had been so great, and loss 

 so frequent, that but little attention was given to the 

 subject for a long time. Mr. "Weeks lost his entire stock 

 three times in twenty-five years. , But soon after the 

 discovery was promulgated, that honey could be taken 

 from a stock without destroying the bees, an addi- 

 tional attention was manifest, increasing to a rage ; in 

 many places. It seems to be easily understood, that 

 frofit must attend success, in this branch of the farm 

 er's stock ; inasmuch as the " bees work for nothing 

 and find themselves." This interest, in bees should be 

 encouraged to continue till enough are kept to collect 

 all the honey now wasted ; which, compared with the 

 present collections, would be more than a thousand 

 pounds to one. But to succeed, that is the difficultyi 

 Some eighteen years since, after a propitious season, 

 an aged and esteemed friend said to me, " It is not to 

 be expected that you will have such luck always ; you 

 must expect they will run out after a time. I have 

 always noticed, when people have first-rate luck for a 

 time, that the bees generally take a turn, and are gone 

 in a few years." 



I am not sure but, to the above remarks, may be 

 traced the cause of my subsequent success. It stimu- 

 lated me to observation and inquiry. I soon found 

 that good seasons were the "lucky" ones, and that 

 many lost in an adverse season, all they had before 

 gained. Also, that strong families were the only ones 

 on which I could depend for protection against the 

 moth. This induced the effort to ascertain causes 



