PREFACE. 
Encoukagkd by the favor with which the former edi¬ 
tions of this work have been 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 air, I cherish the hope that my labors in 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, will 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 
