The Bee Preserver; or, Practical Directions for the Management and Preservation of Hives

THE
BEE PRESERVER.
PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION OF HIVES.
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF
LATE MINISTER OF LIGNIERES, AT PRESENT MINISTER OF THE CHURCHES OF COLOMBIER AND AUVERNIER, IN THE PRINCIPALITY OF NEUCHATEL; MEMBER OF THE SOCIETÉ ECONOMIQUE DE BERNE, &c., &c., &c.
PUBLISHED AT MULHAUSEN.
JOHN ANDERSON JUN. EDINBURGH,
55, NORTH BRIDGE STREET; AND SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, LONDON. MDCCCXXIX.
P. NEILL, PRINTER.
In respectfully dedicating this little Work to the Highland Society of Scotland, the Translator hopes, that, under their efficient and enlightened patronage, it may be made generally known in Scotland, where the system which it explains is calculated to be as extensively applicable, and as highly profitable, as it has proved in the native mountains of its amiable and venerable Author. It seems, indeed, both from the plain practical directions which it contains, and the valuable discoveries which it communicates relative to the history and economy of bees, to be singularly adapted to forward the views of the Society, who have this year turned their attention to the encouragement of Apiaries among the peasantry of our own country; and it is no small advantage, that the rules laid down are applicable to hives of every form.
The Translator has no fear of its being objected, that plans which are very suitable in Switzerland, may be less successful as applied to Scotland. Switzerland and Scotland present so many points of resemblance—in their mountains—in their valleys—and in their climate—that which is beneficial in the one, can scarcely fail to be so in the other. And as the Swiss honey is known to be not only very abundant, but of a very superior flavour, especially in those districts where De Gelieu's or some similar plan is adopted, the Translator is desirous to see the simple and successful methods of that country transferred to our own, that the Scottish peasantry may derive from their practice the same advantages. To the Swiss peasantry, bees are a great source of wealth; a stranger is attracted by the appearance of substantial comfort, conveyed by well appointed apiaries, where the hives are ranged in double and triple rows along the sunny side, and under the shelter of the projecting roofs of the cottages; and in Scotland there is little doubt that, if similar care were bestowed on the cultivation of bees, they would be equally profitable.