OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
From The Journal of Horticulture, February 28, 1865.
Mr. Neighbour says in his preface: "We are so frequently applied to for advice oil matters connected with bees and bee-hives, that it seemed likely to prove a great advantage to our correspondents and ourselves if we could point to a 'handy book' of our own which should contain full and detailed replies sufficient to meet all ordinary inquiries." Keeping this object steadily in view, the writer describes the various hive's and apiarian apparatus manufactured by his firm, pointing out the various advantages claimed for them, and giving ample directions for their use. When we add that the author expresses his acknowledgments to Mr. Woodbury, Mr. Taylor, the illustrious Huber and Mr. Langstroth, it may readily be imagined that the information derived from such sources must in the main be correct, and that Mr. Neighbour, in addition to the strictly business portion of his work, has been enabled to impart to his readers a very considerable amount of sound instruction on most points of Apiarian management.
From The Journal of Horticulture, May 29, 1866.
Mr. Neighbour's book, the first edition of which was noticed by us in February 1865, now makes its appearance in a new guise, being reduced from demy 8vo. to crown 8vo., whilst the number of its pages is increased from 134 to 274, with but a slight increase in price. In addition to a description of the various hives and apiarian apparatus sold by the well-known firm of which the author is a member, it contains a considerable amount of generally accurate information compiled from the best authorities; Mr. Woodbury's contributions to our pages being in particular heavily drawn upon.
A new feature in this edition is a couple of steel plates illustrative of the anatomy of the bee, engraved by Mr. E. W. Robinson with his customary ability; embracing also coloured delineations of the three sexes of the Ligurian or Italian variety of honey-bee. . . .
Mr. Neighbour possesses a very great advantage over a mere compiler, in that he himself is a practical bee-keeper, and divers anecdotes of his experiences are related by him in a light and amusing manner. For this reason also the information conveyed in his pages is, as we have already stated, very generally correct.
Athenæum, August 19, 1865.
Emanating from a house so well known and so extensively patronized by the cultivators of bees, it will readily be concluded that the object of the present work is primarily commercial. The author, a member of the firm, in giving the reason for the publication of his book, speaks in the name of the company. "We are," he says, "so frequently applied to for advice on matters connected with bees and bee-hives, that it seemed likely to prove a great advantage, alike to our correspondents and ourselves, if we could point to a 'handy-book' of our own, which should contain full and detailed replies sufficient to meet all reasonable inquiries." This is candid and open, and stands in favourable contrast to the ordinary puffing books which aim to conceal under the aspect often of a scientific treatise the boasting advertisement of their own wares. It is but justice to the respectable house from which the present little treatise issues to say that it fulfils its public object, presenting one of the most useful practical treatises on this most interesting pursuit which we have met with. It does not profess to enter deeply into the physiological marvels of the habits of bees; it is, in fact, meagre in the scientific phase of the subject. The various theories concerning the propagation of bees are nowhere discussed,[1] and the hypothesis of Siebold is not even alluded to.[1] But for those persons who desire to know how to procure good honey with certainty, and how to watch in safety the working of these little untaught but unerring mathematicians, the work of Mr. Neighbour will be found very useful. It also informs us where the best hives of every kind and form are to be obtained—of course, of "Messrs. Neighbour & Sons."
[1] Will be found in third edition.
The Reader, 26 August, 1865.
The Apiary; or, Bees, Beehives, and Bee Culture. By Alfred Neighbour. (Kent & Co.)
This valuable manual is, what it professes to be, a familiar account of the habits of bees, and the most improved methods of management, with full directions adapted for the cottager, farmer, or scientific apiarian. The writer is a regular enthusiast, but an enthusiast whose practical knowledge of the subject is made all the more available to the reader from the very enthusiasm which, as in Virgil, leaves not the most minute instruction untold. Nobody can write about bees without quoting poetry, and Mr. Neighbour does this largely, yet most aptly.
THE APIARY.
GEO. NEIGHBOUR & SONS' BEE FARM, WEST END, HAMPSTEAD.—See [page 330].