Preface. 



PREFACE. 



IN placing this work before the reader, it has been the 

 Author's intention to adhere strictly to the Science of 

 Practical Bee-keeping, and to refer to the natural 

 history of Bees only in so far that the one cannot be 

 separated from the other in securing correct management. 

 Those wishing to study the complete Anatomy and 

 Physiology of these wonderful little insects, cannot do 

 better than secure the works of Cheshire, Cowan, or Cook. 



With few exceptions, the instructions contained herein 

 will be confined to the Author's own experience, which 

 has extended over thirty years of close observation. The 

 reader will therefore have the benefit of a lengthened and 

 varied experience, and by following one recognized 

 system, there will be little possibility of the novice being 

 confused by the usual multiplicity of ideas upon any one 

 subject. The exceptions will be such matters as have a 

 very important bearing upon the management of Bees. 

 When the beginner has mastered the present system he 

 will then be in a position to use his own judgment in 

 selecting the good and leaving out the errors of others. 



The Author does not hesitate to say that he has himself 

 learned more by his failures than by successj in that 

 where he has failed there has been a direct incentive to 

 overcome such difficulty ; and as the result, some of the 



