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a monthly periodical which has been published for more than 

 fifteen years in Germany, and is undoubtedly more familiar 

 with the state of Apiarian culture abroad, than any man in 

 this country. 



I am anxious further to show that the great importance 

 which I attach to my system of management, is amply justi- 

 fied by the success of those who, while pursuing a similar 

 one with inferior hives, have attained results, which to com- 

 mon bee-keepers, seem almost incredible. Inventors are too 

 prone to form exaggerated estimates of the value of their 

 labors ; and the American public has been so often deluded 

 ■with patent hives, devised by persons ignorant of the most 

 important principles in the natural history of the bee, and 

 ■which have utterly failed to answer their professed objects, 

 that they are scarcely to be blamed for rejecting every new 

 hive as unworthy of confidence. 



There is now a prospect that a Bee Journal will before 

 long, be established in this country. Such a publication has 

 long been needed. Properly conducted, it will have a most 

 powerful influence in disseminating information, awakening 

 enthusiasm, and guarding the public against the miserable 

 impositions to which it has so long been subjected. 



Three such journals are now published monthly in Ger- 

 many, one of which has been in existence for more than 

 seventeen years ; and their wide circulation has made thou- 

 sands well acquainted with those principles which must 

 constitute the foundation of any enlightened and profitable 

 system of culture. 



The truth is that while many of the principal facts in the 

 physiology of the honey bee have long been familiar to 

 scientific observers, it has unfortunately happened that some 

 of the most important have been the most widely discredited. 

 In themselves they are so wonderful, and to those who have 



