I recommend nothing in this treatise that I have not proved valuable by actual trial, unless I mention some eminent person as advising it; nor do I announce any fact or scientific truth that I have not verified, except as I give it on the authority of some competent person. For most of the figures of the second edition lam indebted to one of my pupils, Mr. W. L. Holdsworth, whose skill as an artist needs no praise. _Appended to this volume is a very full index which will be a great aid to the student._ CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Who May Keep Bees 11 Specialists 11 Amateurs 11 Who are Specially Interdicted 12 Inducements to Bee-Keeping 12 Recreation 12 Profit 13 Excellence as an Amateur Pursuit 15 Adaptation to Women 15 Improves the Mind and Observation 17 Yields Delicious Food 17 What Successful Bee-Keeping Requires 18 Mental Effort 18 Experience Necessary 18 Learn from Others 18 Aid from Conventions 19 Aid from Bee Papers 19 American Bee Journal 19 Gleanings in Bee Culture 20 Bee-Keepers' Magazine 21 Books for the Apiarist 21 Langstroth on the Honey-Bee 21 Quinby's Mysteries of Bee-Keeping 22 King's Text-Book 22 A, B, C of Bee Culture 22 Foreign Works 22 Promptitude 23 Enthusiasm 24 PART I. Natural History of the Honey Bee. CHAPTER I.