PREFACE. 



It appeal's to the writers of the following pages, that a work of this 

 description is much needed in our country. 



The cultivation of the bee {Apis Mellifica) has been too long neg- 

 lected in most parts of the United States. m 



This general neglect has unquestionably originated^ from the fact 

 that the European enemy to the bee, called the moth, has found its 

 way into this country, and has located and naturalized itself here ; 

 and it has made so much havoc among bees, that many districts have 

 entirely abandoned their cultivation. Many apiarians, and men of the 

 highest literary attainments as well as experience, have nearly ex- 

 hausted their patience in examining the peculiar nature and habits of 

 this insect ; and they have tried various experiments to devise some 

 means of preventing its depredations. But, after all that has been 

 done, the spoiler moves on with little molestation ; and very few of 

 our citizens are willing to engage in the enterprise of cultivating this 

 most useful and profitable of all insects, the honey-bee. 



The following work is designed as a directory to those who are 

 engaged in the cultivation of bees, and is divided into chapters and 

 sections, with the intention to facilitate their management in all their 

 different stages, so that any person, properly situated, may cultivate 

 bees, and avail himself of all the benefits of their labors. 



If the apiarian manages strictly in accordance with the following 

 directions, the authors feel confident that no colony will ever materi- 

 ally suffer by the moth, or will €ver be destroyed by it. 



