PEEFACE. 



tor, without an effort to secure to ourselves and the com- 

 munity, so valuable and vast a treasure? All that is 

 necessary, is sufficient encouragement and knowledge of 

 the subject. 



Enough has already been done to show that the estimate 

 is sufficiently near the truth to be taken as a base for fu- 

 ture calculations. An area of a few square miles in the 

 writer's vicinity, has, in some favorable seasons, furnished 

 for market over 20,000 lbs. surplus honey. Had a propor- 

 tional quantity been collected in all other places in the 

 United States, we could count the proceeds by millions 

 of dollars instead of a few hundreds or thousands. 



The author does not offer this improved edition because 

 he supposes that people would be unable to keep bees 

 without it, but with the hope that those who are already 

 doing well, jo&j do better. A person who wishes to niake 

 the most possible from his bees can hardly afford to dis- 

 pense with the benefit of any experience that will aid him. 

 The instructions found in the periodicals of the day are 

 often not to be depended upon. A score of bee-keepers, 

 each of limited experience, wiU give as many different 

 methods, and an editor equally inexperienced, is usually 

 unable to discriminate between them. The simplest di- 

 rections of a reliable practical bee-keeper who studies the 

 science with an honest enthusiasm, are invaluable to the 

 tyro in apiarian knowledge. 



To benefit the largest possible class, the author has en- 

 deavored to be practical rather than scientific, and has 

 aimed at no elegance of style or diction, preferring that 

 the merit of the book should lie in its simplicity and 

 reUability. M. QUINBT, 



St. JohnsvUle, N. T., April, 1865. 



