Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library is delighted to announce  
the addition of the first twenty volumes of The American Bee Journal,  
a key American beekeeping publication, to its Hive and the Honeybee  
online library of historical beekeeping materials.

U.S. beekeepers will be familiar with The American Bee Journal, the  
first English-language journal devoted to the beekeeping field. First  
published in 1861, The American Bee Journal featured contributions by  
major figures of 19th century American apiculture such as L.L.  
Langstroth, Henry Alley, Moses Quinby, A.I. Root and others.  Still  
being published today, the ABJ exists as a monument to the long  
history of American beekeeping and the ingenuity of its practitioners.

The ABJ’s first twenty volumes, now available at http://bees.library.cornell.edu/ 
, cover the years 1861 through 1884. From observations on Chinese  
methods for harvesting honey to tips on the use of wild onions and  
other herbs as honey plants, these early volumes present a treasure  
trove of often beautifully illustrated details on the theory and  
practice of 19th century American beekeeping.

Online access to ABJ’s early volumes is the result of a multi-year  
initiative supported by beekeepers from across the United States.  
Contributions sent in from beekeeping associations from California to  
Maine made the digitization of these volumes possible, while matching  
funds from Mann Library’s preservation program have supported the  
scanning of an additional twenty volumes that will be available online  
by Spring 2009.

The Hive and the Honeybee is a free, full text digital archive of  
selected works from Mann Library's E. F. Phillips Collection, one of  
the world’s most comprehensive apicultural libraries. This growing  
online archive, generously supported by American beekeepers, offers  
ready access to works of historical importance and usefulness to both  
scholars and practicing beekeepers today.  In addition to the newly  
added volumes from The American Bee Journal, the site currently offers  
over thirty key historical monographs, including classics such as the  
1623 edition of Charles Butler’s The Feminine Monarchie, and Samuel  
Hartlib’s work, The Reformed Commonwealth of Bees, published in 1655.

Thanx to Mann Library and the generous donation of all beekeepers &  
beek associations who have made this possible!

Mike Griggs

FLBC

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