PREFACE TO FIRST EDITM. 



THE APIAEY. 



Why another treatise on this subject? Have we not 

 Langstroth, and Quinby, and King, and Bevan, and Hunter V 

 Yes ; all of these. Each of which has done excellent service 

 in promoting an important industry. Each of which pos- 

 sesses peculiar and striking excellences. Yet none of these 

 combine all of the qualities desirable in a popular manual. 

 Hence, the excuse for another claimant for public favor. 

 Every cultured apiarist laments that there is no text-book 

 which possesses all of the following very desirable characters : 

 Simple style, full in its discussions, cheap, disinterested, up 

 with the times. It is for the bee-keeping public to decide 

 whether this treatise meets any more rully the demands 

 made by the latest discoveries and amprovements, by the 

 wants of those eager to learn, and by the superior intelligence 

 which is now enlisted in the interests of the Apiary. 



The following is, in substance, the same as the course of 

 lectiures which I have given each year to the students of the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, and their desire, as expressed 

 in repeated requests, has led to this publication. 



It will be my desire to consider subjects of merely scientifle 

 interest and value, as fully as scientific students can reason- 

 ably desire ; and, that such discussions may not confuse or 

 perplex those who only read or study with practical ends in 

 view, a very full index is added, so that the whereabouts of 

 any topic, either of practical or scientific value, can be easily 

 ascertained. 



In considering the various subjects of interest to the bee- 

 keeper, I am greatly indebted to the authors mentioned 

 above, and also to the following journals, all worthy of high 

 commendation : Gleanings in Bee Culture, American Bee 

 Journal, Bee-Keepers' Magazine, and Bee World. 



The illustrations for this manual were nearly all drawn by 

 the author from the natural object. 



Michigan- Agricultural College, ) 

 Lansing, May 1, 1876. j 



