diff --git a/bucket.go b/bucket.go
index 571cae4..9737128 100644
--- a/bucket.go
+++ b/bucket.go
@@ -154,6 +154,7 @@ func (b *Bucket) CreateBucket(key []byte) (*Bucket, error) {
 	bucket.root = p.id
 
 	// Insert into node.
+	key = cloneBytes(key)
 	c.node().put(key, key, value, 0, bucketLeafFlag)
 
 	return b.Bucket(key), nil
@@ -262,6 +263,7 @@ func (b *Bucket) Put(key []byte, value []byte) error {
 	}
 
 	// Insert into node.
+	key = cloneBytes(key)
 	c.node().put(key, key, value, 0, 0)
 
 	return nil
@@ -533,3 +535,10 @@ type BucketStats struct {
 	LeafAlloc   int // bytes allocated for physical leaf pages
 	LeafInuse   int // bytes actually used for leaf data
 }
+
+// cloneBytes returns a copy of a given slice.
+func cloneBytes(v []byte) []byte {
+	var clone = make([]byte, len(v))
+	copy(clone, v)
+	return clone
+}
diff --git a/bucket_test.go b/bucket_test.go
index d0133f8..c506b72 100644
--- a/bucket_test.go
+++ b/bucket_test.go
@@ -745,7 +745,7 @@ func ExampleBucket_Put() {
 	// Read value back in a different read-only transaction.
 	db.Update(func(tx *Tx) error {
 		value := tx.Bucket([]byte("widgets")).Get([]byte("foo"))
-		fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' is: %s\n", string(value))
+		fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' is: %s\n", value)
 		return nil
 	})
 
@@ -770,7 +770,7 @@ func ExampleBucket_Delete() {
 
 		// Retrieve the key back from the database and verify it.
 		value := b.Get([]byte("foo"))
-		fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' was: %s\n", string(value))
+		fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' was: %s\n", value)
 		return nil
 	})
 
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ func ExampleBucket_ForEach() {
 
 		// Iterate over items in sorted key order.
 		b.ForEach(func(k, v []byte) error {
-			fmt.Printf("A %s is %s.\n", string(k), string(v))
+			fmt.Printf("A %s is %s.\n", k, v)
 			return nil
 		})
 		return nil
diff --git a/cmd/bolt/bench.go b/cmd/bolt/bench.go
index e1858df..10a5599 100644
--- a/cmd/bolt/bench.go
+++ b/cmd/bolt/bench.go
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ var benchBucketName = []byte("bench")
 func Bench(options *BenchOptions) {
 	var results BenchResults
 
+	// Validate options.
+	if options.BatchSize == 0 {
+		options.BatchSize = options.Iterations
+	} else if options.Iterations%options.BatchSize != 0 {
+		fatal("number of iterations must be divisible by the batch size")
+	}
+
 	// Find temporary location.
 	path := tempfile()
 	defer os.Remove(path)
@@ -232,9 +239,9 @@ type BenchOptions struct {
 	WriteMode    string
 	ReadMode     string
 	Iterations   int
+	BatchSize    int
 	KeySize      int
 	ValueSize    int
-	BatchSize    int
 	CPUProfile   string
 	MemProfile   string
 	BlockProfile string
diff --git a/cmd/bolt/main.go b/cmd/bolt/main.go
index 041f4bb..cb2d47a 100644
--- a/cmd/bolt/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bolt/main.go
@@ -98,26 +98,22 @@ func NewApp() *cli.App {
 				&cli.StringFlag{Name: "write-mode", Value: "seq", Usage: "Write mode"},
 				&cli.StringFlag{Name: "read-mode", Value: "seq", Usage: "Read mode"},
 				&cli.IntFlag{Name: "count", Value: 1000, Usage: "Item count"},
+				&cli.IntFlag{Name: "batch-size", Usage: "Write batch size"},
 				&cli.IntFlag{Name: "key-size", Value: 8, Usage: "Key size"},
 				&cli.IntFlag{Name: "value-size", Value: 32, Usage: "Value size"},
-				&cli.IntFlag{Name: "batch-size", Value: 0, Usage: "Write batch size"},
 				&cli.StringFlag{Name: "cpuprofile", Usage: "CPU profile output path"},
 				&cli.StringFlag{Name: "memprofile", Usage: "Memory profile output path"},
 				&cli.StringFlag{Name: "blockprofile", Usage: "Block profile output path"},
 			},
 			Action: func(c *cli.Context) {
-				bs := c.Int("batch-size")
-				if bs == 0 {
-					bs = c.Int("count")
-				}
 				Bench(&BenchOptions{
 					ProfileMode:  c.String("profile-mode"),
 					WriteMode:    c.String("write-mode"),
 					ReadMode:     c.String("read-mode"),
 					Iterations:   c.Int("count"),
+					BatchSize:    c.Int("batch-size"),
 					KeySize:      c.Int("key-size"),
 					ValueSize:    c.Int("value-size"),
-					BatchSize:    bs,
 					CPUProfile:   c.String("cpuprofile"),
 					MemProfile:   c.String("memprofile"),
 					BlockProfile: c.String("blockprofile"),
diff --git a/db_test.go b/db_test.go
index 57c356e..d0933e8 100644
--- a/db_test.go
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@ func ExampleDB_Update() {
 	if err == nil {
 		db.View(func(tx *Tx) error {
 			value := tx.Bucket([]byte("widgets")).Get([]byte("foo"))
-			fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' is: %s\n", string(value))
+			fmt.Printf("The value of 'foo' is: %s\n", value)
 			return nil
 		})
 	}
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ func ExampleDB_View() {
 	// Access data from within a read-only transactional block.
 	db.View(func(tx *Tx) error {
 		v := tx.Bucket([]byte("people")).Get([]byte("john"))
-		fmt.Printf("John's last name is %s.\n", string(v))
+		fmt.Printf("John's last name is %s.\n", v)
 		return nil
 	})
 
@@ -434,7 +434,7 @@ func ExampleDB_Begin_ReadOnly() {
 	tx, _ = db.Begin(false)
 	c := tx.Bucket([]byte("widgets")).Cursor()
 	for k, v := c.First(); k != nil; k, v = c.Next() {
-		fmt.Printf("%s likes %s\n", string(k), string(v))
+		fmt.Printf("%s likes %s\n", k, v)
 	}
 	tx.Rollback()
 
@@ -469,7 +469,7 @@ func ExampleDB_CopyFile() {
 	// Ensure that the key exists in the copy.
 	db2.View(func(tx *Tx) error {
 		value := tx.Bucket([]byte("widgets")).Get([]byte("foo"))
-		fmt.Printf("The value for 'foo' in the clone is: %s\n", string(value))
+		fmt.Printf("The value for 'foo' in the clone is: %s\n", value)
 		return nil
 	})
 
diff --git a/tx.go b/tx.go
index 5844ffe..612f493 100644
--- a/tx.go
+++ b/tx.go
@@ -75,6 +75,14 @@ func (tx *Tx) Writable() bool {
 	return tx.writable
 }
 
+// Cursor creates a cursor associated with the root bucket.
+// All items in the cursor will return a nil value because all root bucket keys point to buckets.
+// The cursor is only valid as long as the transaction is open.
+// Do not use a cursor after the transaction is closed.
+func (tx *Tx) Cursor() *Cursor {
+	return tx.root.Cursor()
+}
+
 // Stats retrieves a copy of the current transaction statistics.
 func (tx *Tx) Stats() TxStats {
 	return tx.stats
diff --git a/tx_test.go b/tx_test.go
index f630e97..61fa5d9 100644
--- a/tx_test.go
+++ b/tx_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,31 @@ func TestTx_Commit_ReadOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+// Ensure that a transaction can retrieve a cursor on the root bucket.
+func TestTx_Cursor(t *testing.T) {
+	withOpenDB(func(db *DB, path string) {
+		db.Update(func(tx *Tx) error {
+			tx.CreateBucket([]byte("widgets"))
+			tx.CreateBucket([]byte("woojits"))
+			c := tx.Cursor()
+
+			k, v := c.First()
+			assert.Equal(t, "widgets", string(k))
+			assert.Nil(t, v)
+
+			k, v = c.Next()
+			assert.Equal(t, "woojits", string(k))
+			assert.Nil(t, v)
+
+			k, v = c.Next()
+			assert.Nil(t, k)
+			assert.Nil(t, v)
+
+			return nil
+		})
+	})
+}
+
 // Ensure that creating a bucket with a read-only transaction returns an error.
 func TestTx_CreateBucket_ReadOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	withOpenDB(func(db *DB, path string) {
@@ -289,7 +314,7 @@ func ExampleTx_Rollback() {
 	// Ensure that our original value is still set.
 	db.View(func(tx *Tx) error {
 		value := tx.Bucket([]byte("widgets")).Get([]byte("foo"))
-		fmt.Printf("The value for 'foo' is still: %s\n", string(value))
+		fmt.Printf("The value for 'foo' is still: %s\n", value)
 		return nil
 	})