Bull. 1, new series, Div. of Entomology, U. S. Agriculture.

Frontispiece.

An Apiary in Maryland.

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY.

THE HONEY BEE:
A MANUAL OF
INSTRUCTION IN APICULTURE

BY

FRANK BENTON, M. S.,

ASSISTANT ENTOMOLOGIST.

WASHINGTON:

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.

1899.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,

Division of Entomology,
Washington, D. C, May 27, 1899.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith for republication a manualentitled, The Honey Bee: A Manual of Instruction in Apiculture, byMr. Frank Benton, who has been in charge of the apiarian work of thisDivision for several years. The constant demand for information concerningbee culture for a long time indicated a need for such a publicmanual, and the work was begun and nearly completed under the directionof my predecessor, Dr. G. V. Riley. The manuscript was submittedSeptember 20, 1895, and the edition of 1,000 copies was soonexhausted. In April, 1896, Congress ordered a reprint of 20,000 copies,in which some corrections and additions were made by the author. Hehas also taken advantage of the reprint of another (the third) editionto make some slight additional changes.

The apiarian industry in the United States is practically a developmentof the last forty years, although isolated individuals were engagedin this work long prior to that time. The importance of the industryat the present day is not generally realized, and the following figureswill probably be surprising to many well-informed individuals: