INTRODUCTION. 
BEE-KEEPING. 
Tiie 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, 
compared with the present collections, would be more than a 
thousand pounds to one.” 
