P EEF ACE. 



Encotjeagkd by the favor with which the former edi- 

 tions of this work have heen received, I submit to the 

 public a Revised Edition, illustrated by additional wood- 

 cuts, and containing my latest discoveries and improve- 

 ments. The information which it presents, is adapted not 

 only to those who use the Movable-Comb Hive, but to all 

 who aim at profitable bee-keeping, with any hive, or on 

 any system of management. 



Debarred, to a great extent, by ill-health, from the ap- 

 propriate duties of my profession, and compelled to seek 

 an employment calling me as much as possible into the 

 open JUT, I cherish the hope that my labors iq an impor- 

 tant department of Rural Economy, may prove service- 

 able to the community. Bee-keeping is regarded in 

 Europe as an intellectual pursuit, and no one who studies 

 the wonderful habits of this useful insect, wiU ever find 

 the materials for new observations exhausted. The Cre- 

 ator has stamped the seal of his Infinity on all his works, 

 so that it is impossible, even in the minutest, " by search- 

 ing to find out the Almighty to perfection." In none 



vii 



