THE

HANDY ВООК

OF

BEES

BEING

A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THEIR

PROFITABLE MANAGEMENT

BY

A. PETTIGREW

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS

EDINBURGH AND LONDON

MDCCCLXX

PREFACE.

DR M'KENZIE, in a small book on bees, says he was induced to study the subject from the fact that one of his two labouring men having found a swarm of bees in a hedge, and therewith commenced bee-keeping, was enabled afterwards to go without his wages till they were earned. Previously, both labourers got their wages in advance. The lift given to the one man by the possession of this fugitive swarm was so great and pleasing to the Doctor, that he com>menced to read works on bees, and study their management both in this country and on the Continent. By-and-by a small fourpenny book on the subject fell from his pen, which received no patronage.

This little incident is mentioned to show what a swarm or two of bees may do for a poor labourer. Indeed, if there is anything more profitable to cottagers living in the country or on the skirts of towns, than a few swarms of bees, and can be more easily managed by them, all we can say is, we have never seen that thing, or known what it is. "Bees," says Cobbett," are of great use in a house, on account

of the honey, the wax, and the swarms they produce -they cost nothing to keep, and want nothing but a little care."

The author's father, James Pettigrew, was a labouring man, and perhaps the greatest bee-keeper that Scotland has ever produced. He was so successful and enthusiastic in the management of his bees, that he earned and received the cognomen of "The Bee-man," and by this name he was well known for thirty years in a wider circle than the parish of Carluke, Lanarkshire, in which he resided. Even the district of the parish in which he lived when he kept most hives took then the name of "Honey Bank," which it still bears. And though the author left his native village thirty-five years ago, he is best known there on an occasional visit as "The Bee-man's son."

While a common labouring man, he saved a great deal of money from his bees; indeed it was reported in the Glasgow newspapers that he realised £100 profit from them one season. His example and success twenty-five years after his death have not yet lost their influence on the successful bee-keepers of his native village, who say, "The old bee-man taught us all we know; who taught him?" "The bee"saved money enough to purchase the Black Bull Inn of the village, and therein commenced business as a publican and butcher. When his sons reached their 'teens, the management of his bees was left in great measure to them. It was then that the foundation of what we know of bees was laid. And as most readers of a book like to know a little of the

man

author, we may be pardoned the egotism of saying that we were at the age of eighteen apprenticed to the profession of gardening at Carstairs House. In about four years afterwards we went to London to pursue our profession, which we have followed ever since. While an apprentice at Carstairs, and a journeyman in Middlesex, we kept bees in "hidden places" in the plantations and shrubberies; and while acting in the capacity of head-gardener, we managed the bees of our employers. Now we have a small garden of our own, in which we keep “lots of bees" for profit. Such is a brief outline of the author's history from a bee-keeping point of view. The work before the reader, then, is a practical one, and written by a practical man.

6

Three or four years ago, we were induced by our respected friend Mr Thomson, editor of The Gardener,' to contribute a series of articles on Bees for that periodical, then called The Scottish Gardener.' Mr T. heralded these articles with a few remarks rather too complimentary. He then said: "We had practical proof of the extraordinary success resulting from Mr Pettigrew's system of bee-management when he was our foreman in the Gardens at Wrotham Park, Middlesex, twenty-five years ago. We assure our readers who may peruse his letters, that though he may recommend what may clash violently with their present knowledge of the subject, he is, notwithstanding, a safe guide; and that, where profit is the object, no writer that we have ever read can be compared with him. We predicate that his letters will