INTRODUCTION 



BEE-KEEPING-. 



The culture of the honey bee has engaged the attention of 

 intelligent and enterprising men of all ages ; yet within a few- 

 years, by the introduction of improved movable frames and other 

 improvements, this pursuit, always attractive, is rendered no 

 longer a business of "luck" or chance, but as certain and more 

 remunerative, with small capital, than any other rural occupation. 



About five years ago, it was estimated, in the "American 

 Bee Journal," that there were then seventy thousand bee- 

 keepers in the United States, many attending to several apiaries, 

 with from one hundred to three hundred swarms in each, and 

 yet, with the increasing light and interest, hundreds, all over the 

 country, are engaging in this branch of industry. In the mind 

 of the uninformed but enquiring reader, a few questions will 

 arise, which we will here only briefly notice, as he can refer, 

 from the index, to each subject — more fully treated under its 

 appropriate head. 



Is there not danger of overstocking the country ? 



Says M. Quinby, one of the most extensive bee-keepers in the 

 world, " this interest in bees should be encouraged to continue 

 till enough are kept to collect all the honey now wasted, which, 

 ccmpared with the present collections, would be more than a 

 thousand pounds to one." 



