PREFACE 
In 1890, after some nine editions of this work had been published, it became appar¬ 
ent that it was very desirable that the new editor and author should make extensive trips 
among the beekeepers of the different States. The first trip w T as made in 1890. Other 
trips followed in rapid succession continuing up to the present time, reports on which 
have appeared in Gleanings in Bee Culture. The data gathered during the first few 
traps showed conclusively the importance of adapting the teachings to the locality; and 
numerous changes and additions were incorporated giving the experience of the most 
successful beekeepers in every State in the Union. But in all cases the old matter orig¬ 
inally written by A. I. Root has been retained so far as possible. So extensive have been 
the additions that the original work of 200 pages has expanded into the present volume 
of nearly 1,000 pages. Thus three-fourths of the 1923 edition, outside of the scientific 
matter, has been written by the junior author. 
It must not be supposed that all of the changes made and all of the new material 
added are the work of the junior author alone. He has consulted many of the leading 
beekeepers of the country, frequently submitting to them his manuscripts for criticism. 
Among the foremost of these authorities in earlier days were Dr. C. C. Miller, G. M. 
Doolittle, A. C. Miller, and last, but not least, A. I. Root himself; in later years he has 
consulted Dr. E. F. Phillips, in charge of Bee Culture at Washington, and his former 
assistant, Geo. S. Demuth. 
Mr. Demuth is now editor-in-chief of Gleanings in Bee Culture, and chief of the 
Bureau of Information of The A. I. Root Company. For many years he was engaged 
in the production of comb honey at Peru, Indiana. His methods have been so success¬ 
ful that the sum of money he has made with 200 colonies of bees in one month has fre¬ 
quently exceeded the salary he received during the other eleven months. For nine years 
Mr. Demuth was assistant to Dr. Phillips in the Department of Bee Culture at Wash¬ 
ington, D. C. In this position he had exceptional facilities for engaging in research 
work with bees. In the preparation of the 1923 edition of the ABC and X Y Z of Bee 
Culture he has made many valuable suggestions. Several of the articles, as After-Swabm- 
ing. Artificial Swarming, Building Up Colonies, Comb Honey, and Swarming, were 
entirely rewritten by him. On these five subjects he is acknowledged to be one of the 
best living authorities. 
Dr. Phillips, the author of Beekeeping, has likewise offered important suggestions; 
and furnished valuable information in regard to bee diseases, which has been incorpor¬ 
ated under various topics. Assisted by Mr. Demuth he has developed the science of win¬ 
tering bees, and explained most of the reactions that then take place in the colony. (See 
Temperature.) A knowledge of bee behavior in general, or what may be described in 
more popular language as the domestic economy of the beehive, and many problems in 
bee culture, formerly obscure, have also been worked out by Phillips and Demuth. 
In later years H. H. Root, the younger son of A. I. Root, came on the scene of action. 
He inherited all of the enthusiasm of his father for genuine research, and as a result has 
invented and improved many new and useful appliances, which greatly facilitate the 
work of securing a crop of honey. The articles on Extractors and Extracting show 
much of his handiwork. He also wrote a large part of the article on Wax, and helped 
in revising various other articles. 
It was impossible for the author, who for 35 years was editor of Gleanings in Bee 
Culture, in revising the ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture to specialize in zoology and 
botany. Both of these sciences are so intimately connected with bee culture that the 
author finally employed Mr. John H. Lovell of Waldoboro, Maine, an entomologist, bot¬ 
anist and beekeeper, to write all the articles relating to them. Mr. Lovell has one of the 
largest private collections in the United States of the solitary and social bees, and of in¬ 
sects valuable as agents in the pollination of flowers. For many years he has specialized 
in botany and entomology, and has contributed numerous articles to the scientific journals 
giving the results of original investigations of the biology of flowers, the senses of the 
honeybee and the classification of bees. He has also for nearly a score of years been an 
enthusiastic beekeeper and student of bee economy. Such a combination in one man, who 
