PREFACE.

SOME years ago, I was induced by my respected friend, Mr W. Thomson, then editor of 'The Gardener,' to contribute a series of articles on bees for that periodical. Mr Thomson heralded these articles with a few complimentary remarks. He then said: "We had practical proof of the extraordinary success resulting from Mr Pettigrew's system of beemanagement 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 to him. We predicate that his letters will be of far greater value to all interested than the cost of the journal for many years to come."

My father, James Pettigrew, was a labouring man, and perhaps the greatest bee-keeper that Scotland 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. 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. 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 have, twenty-five years after his death, not yet lost their influence on the successful beekeepers of Carluke, who say, "The old bee-man taught us all we know." The bee-man saved money enough to purchase the Black Bull Inn of the village, and therein commence 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 I know of bees was laid; and though I left my native village thirty-five years ago, I am still known there as the bee-man's son." As most readers of a book like to know a little of the author, I may be pardoned the egotism of saying, that at the age of eighteen I was apprenticed to the occupation of gardening at Carstairs House. In about four years afterwards I went to London to pursue my business. While an apprentice at Carstairs, and a journeyman in Middlesex, I kept bees in "hidden places" in the plantations and shrubberies; and while acting in the capacity of head gardener, managed the bees of my

employers. Now I have a small garden of my own, in which bees are kept for profit. Such is a brief outline of my history. The work before the reader, then, is a practical one, and written by a practical man. Indeed the book is simply an exposition of a system of management practised by my father for forty years; and profitably, for forty years since his day, by myself and others.

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 beekeeping, was enabled 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 pleasing to the Doctor, that he commenced to read works on bees, and study their management both in this country and on the Continent. This little incident shows what a swarm or two of bees may do for a poor labourer. Indeed there are few things more profitable to cottagers living in the country or on the skirts of towns, than a few swarms of bees, or more easily managed. 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."

66

In bee-keeping I reckon the question of profit is of first importance. Stings do not seem half so painful to the man whose annual proceeds of bee-keeping amount to £10, or £20, or £50. It is my desire,

therefore, in this work to show how bees may be kept with both profit and pleasure. In addition to the profits of bees, there is a fund of interest and enjoyment derived from keeping them, uplifting in its nature and tendencies. One of the most pleasing sights on earth is that of a son of toil, after the labour of the day is done, taking a child in his hand, and going to see his pig, or cow, or bees in his garden. Who has not seen hundreds of working men charmed beyond description in attending to their bees or cows!

I hold that all employers of labour would do well to encourage their servants to spend their leisure hours in a profitable way.

A. PETTIGREW.