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(This file was produced from images produced by Core
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[Illustration:

        So work the Honey Bees.
    Creatures that by a rule in Nature, teach
    The art of order to a peopled kingdom.--_Shakspeare._]

[Illustration: Worker.    Drone.    Queen.

The above are a very accurate representations of the QUEEN, the WORKER
and the DRONE. The group of bees in the title page, represents the
attitude in which the bees surround their Queen or Mother as she rests
upon the comb.]




LANGSTROTH
ON THE
HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE,

A Bee Keeper's Manual,

BY

REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH.

[Illustration: EVERY GOOD MOTHER SHOULD BE THE
HONORED QUEEN OF A HAPPY FAMILY.]

NORTHAMPTON:
HOPKINS, BRIDGMAN & COMPANY.
1853.


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
L. L. LANGSTROTH,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.


C. A. MIRICK, PRINTER, GREENFIELD.




PREFACE.


This Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, is respectfully submitted
by the Author, to the candid consideration of those who are interested
in the culture of the most useful as well as wonderful Insect, in all
the range of Animated Nature. The information which it contains will be
found to be greatly in advance of anything which has yet been presented
to the English Reader; and, as far as facilities for practical
management are concerned, it is believed to be a very material advance
over anything which has hitherto been communicated to the Apiarian
Public.

Debarred, by the state of his health, from the more appropriate duties
of his Office, and compelled to seek an employment which would call him,
as much as possible, into the open air, the Author indulges the hope
that the result of his studies and observations, in an important branch
of Natural History, will be found of service to the Community as well as
to himself. The satisfaction which he has taken in his researches, has
been such that he has felt exceedingly desirous of interesting others,
in a pursuit which, (without any reference to its pecuniary profits,)
is capable of exciting the delight and enthusiasm of all intelligent
observers. The Creator may be seen in all the works of his hands; but in
few more directly than in the wise economy of the Honey-Bee.

    "What well appointed commonwealths! where each
    Adds to the stock of happiness for all;
    Wisdom's own forums! whose professors teach
    Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall!
    Galleries of art! and schools of industry!
    Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song!
    What marvelous seats of hidden alchemy!
    How oft, when wandering far and erring long,
    Man might learn truth and virtue from the BEE!"
                                        _Bowring._

The attention of Clergymen is particularly solicited to the study of
this branch of Natural History. An intimate acquaintance with the
wonders of the Bee-Hive, while it would benefit them in various ways,
might lead them to draw their illustrations, more from natural objects
and the world around them, and in this way to adapt them better to the
comprehension and sympathies of their hearers. It was, we know, the
constant practice of our Lord and Master, to illustrate his teachings
from the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, and the common walks
of life and pursuits of men. Common Sense, Experience and Religion alike
dictate that we should follow his example.

                                                   L. L. LANGSTROTH.
    _Greenfield, Mass., May 25, 1853._




CONTENTS.


INTRODUCTION--CHAPTER I.

Deplorable state of bee-keeping. New era anticipated, 13. Huber's
discoveries and hives. Double hives for protection against extremes of
temperature, 14. Necessary to obtain complete control of the combs.
Taming bees. Hives with movable bars. Their results important, 15.
Bee-keeping made profitable and certain. Movable frames for comb. Bees
will work in glass hives exposed to the light. Dzierzon's discoveries,
16. Wagner's letter on the merits of Dzierzon's hive and the movable
comb hive, 17. Superiority of movable comb hive, 19. Superiority of
Dzierzon's over the old mode, 20. Success attending it, 22. Bee-Journal
to be established. Two of them in Germany. Important facts connected
with bees heretofore discredited, 23. Every thing seen in observing
hives, 24.

CHAPTER II.

BEES CAPABLE OF DOMESTICATION. Astonishment of persons at