VI Translator s Preface. 
as well as the most practical, it cannot be ex- 
pected that he will fall in with it. These quali- 
fications, however, once proved, there is more 
chance of his abandoning his old prejudices 
(which on this subject are generally deeply 
rooted) in favour of a new system. 
M. de Ribeaucourt’s hive seems in every 
respect to supply the above want. His system 
of bee-keeping, together with a full description 
of this hive, are given in the little Manual which 
he has published, and which, for its simplicity 
and practical bearing on the subject of which 
it treats, has been widely circulated throughout 
French Switzerland. It is with great diffidence 
that I am now undertaking to translate this 
Manual into English, as I feel sure that much 
of the force of the original will be lost or 
weakened by passing through my hands, and 
that it would receive far better treatment from 
a more experienced French scholar, and from 
one better acquainted than I am with bees and 
with the technical terms connected with bee- 
keeping. As the author, however, expressed a 
wish that I should undertake the translation, 
I have done so to the best of my power, hoping 
that those into whose hands it may fall will 
