PREFACE. 



THE APIAEY. 



Why another treatise on this subject? Have we not Langstroth, and Quinby, 

 and King, and Be van, and Hunter? Yes, all of these. Bach of which has 

 done excellent service in promoting an important industry. Each of which 

 possesses 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 fully the 

 demands made by the latest discoveries and improvements, by tlae wants of those 

 eager to learn, and by the sviperior intelligence which is now enlisted in the 

 interests of the Apiary. 



The following is, in substance, the same as the course of lectures which I have 

 given each term 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 scientific interest and value, 

 as fully as scientific students can reasonably desire ; and, that such discussions 

 may not confuse or perplex those who only read or study with practical ends in 

 view, a vei-y 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 interests 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 Jour- 

 nal, Bee-keepers' Magazine, and Bee "World. 



The illustrations for this manual were nearly aill drawn by the author from 

 the natural object. The engravings were made by Miss S. E. Fuller, of New 

 York, whose great skill is very worthy of high praise. 



Figs 1, 3, 4, 17, 18 and 19 were kindly loaned by Luther Tucker & Son, of 

 the Country G-entleman, and are from those volumes so valuable in every prac- 

 tical library : The Illustrated Annual of Eural Affairs. 



