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.

The Bee's Place in the Animal Kingdom[27]
The Branch of the Honey-Bee[27]
The Class of the Honey-Bee[28]
The Order of the Honey-Bee[30]
The Sub-Order of the Honey-Bee[31]
The Family of the Honey-Bee[34]
The Genus of the Honey-Bee[38]
The Species of the Honey-Bee[41]
The Varieties of the Honey-Bee[41]
German, or Black Bee[41]
Italian, or Ligurian[41]
Fasciata, or Egyptian[42]
Other Varieties[43]
Bibliography[44]
Valuable Books on Entomology[47]

CHAPTER II.

Anatomy and Physiology[48]
Anatomy of Insects[48]
Organs of the Head[48]
Appendages of the Thorax[55]
Internal Anatomy[56]
Secretory Organs[61]
Sex Organs[62]
Transformations[66]
The Egg[67]
The Larva[68]
The Pupa[68]
The Imago Stage[70]
Incomplete Transformations[70]
Anatomy and Physiology of the Honey Bee[71]
Three Kinds of Bees in Each Colony[71]
The Queen[71]
The Drone[86]
The Neuters or Workers[90]

CHAPTER III.

Swarming, or Natural Method of increase[101]

CHAPTER IV.

Products of Bees, their Origin and Function[104]
Honey[104]
Wax[106]
Pollen, or Bee-Bread[111]
Propolis[112]
Bibliography[113]

Part II.

The apiary, its Care and Management[115]

INTRODUCTION.

Preparation[117]
Read a Good Manual[117]
Visit some Apiarist[117]
Take a College Course[118]
Decide on a Plan[118]
How to Procure our Bees[118]
Kind of Bees to Purchase[119]
In What Kind of Hives[119]
When to Purchase[119]
How Much to Pay[120]
Where to Locate[120]

CHAPTER V.

Hives and Boxes[122]
Box Hives[122]
Movable Comb Hives[123]
The Langstroth Hive[123]
Character of the Hive[124]
The Bottom Board[127]
The Cover[129]
The Frames[132]
How to Construct the Frames[133]
A Block for making Frames[134]
Cover for Frames[136]
Division Board[137]
The Huber Hive[138]
Apparatus for Securing Comb Honey[141]
Boxes[142]
Small Frames or Sections[144]
Requisites of Good Sections[144]
Description[144]
How to Place Sections in Position[147]
Sections in Frames[147]
Sections in Racks[149]

CHAPTER VI.

Position and Arrangement of the Apiary[152]
Position[152]
Arrangement of Ground[152]
Preparation for each Colony[153]

CHAPTER VII.

To Transfer Bees[156]

CHAPTER VIII.

Feeding and Feeders[159]
How Much to Feed[159]
How to Feed[160]

CHAPTER IX.

Queen Rearing[163]
How to Rear Queens[163]
Nuclei[165]
Shall we Clip the Queen's Wing?[168]

CHAPTER X.

Increase of Colonies[171]
Swarming[171]
Hiving Swarms[173]
To Prevent Second Swarms[175]
To Prevent Swarming[176]
How Best to Increase[177]
Dividing[177]
How to Divide[177]

CHAPTER XI.

Italians and Italianizing[180]
All Should Keep Only Italians[183]
How to Italianize[183]
How to Introduce a Queen[183]
To Get Italian Queens[185]
Rearing and Shipping Queens[186]
To Ship Queens[186]
To Move Colonies[187]

CHAPTER XII.

Extracting and the Extractors[188]
Honey Extractor[188]
What Style to Buy[189]
Use of the Extractor[191]
When to use the Extractor[192]
How to Extract[194]

CHAPTER XIII.

Handling Bees[195]
The Best Bee Veil[196]
To Quiet Bees[197]
Bellows Smoker[198]
The Quinby Smoker[198]
The Bingham Smoker[199]
How to Smoke Bees[201]
To Cure Stings[201]
he Sweat Theory[201]

CHAPTER XIV.

Comb Foundation[203]
History[203]
American Foundation[204]
How Foundation is Made[206]
To Secure the Wax Sheets[206]
Use of Foundation[207]
To Fasten the Foundation[209]
Save the Wax[211]
Methods[211]

CHAPTER XV.

Marketing Honey[213]
How to Invigorate the Market[213]
Extracted Honey[214]
How to Tempt the Consumer[214]
Comb Honey[215]
Rules to be Observed[215]

CHAPTER XVI.

Honey Plants[218]
What are the Valuable Honey Plants?[220]
Description with Practical Remarks[222]
April Plants[223]
May Plants[225]
June Plants[228]
July Plants[237]
August and September Plants[242]
Books on Botany[244]
Practical Conclusions[244]

CHAPTER XVII.

Wintering Bees[246]
The Cause of Disastrous Wintering[246]
Requisite to Safe Wintering—Good Food[248]
Secure Late Breeding[249]
To Secure and Maintain Proper Temperature[249]
Box for Packing[250]
Chaff Hives[251]
Wintering in Cellar or House[252]
Burying Bees[254]
Spring Dwindling[254]

CHAPTER XVIII.

The House Apiary[255]
Description[255]
Are they Desirable[256]
The Case as it Now Stands[256]

CHAPTER XIX.

Evils that Confront the Apiarist[258]
Robbing[258]
Disease[259]
Foul Brood[259]
Remedies[260]
Enemies of Bees[262]
The Bee Moth[262]
History[266]
Remedies[266]
Bee Killer[267]
Bee Louse[268]
Important Suggestion[269]
Bee Hawk[269]
Tachina Fly[270]
Spiders[271]
Ants[271]
Wasps[271]
The King Bird[272]
Toads[272]
Mice[272]

CHAPTER XX.

Calendar and Axioms[274]
Work for Different Months[274]
January[274]
February[274]
March[274]
April[275]
May[275]
June[275]
July[275]
August[275]
September[276]
October[276]
November[276]
December[276]
Axioms[277]