BURMAH

Apis Dorsata, The large bee of JAVA, captured at last.—I have at last
captured a swarm of Apis dorsata, and have it safely hived in an
observatory hive. There are about half a bushel of bees, and are they not
magnificent fellows? My hive is about 6 feet tall, and 3 by 3 wide and
deep. The bees were secured on a very high tree, on which were thirteen
other colonies. The limb was cut off, and forms the top bar for the comb,
and hangs like a movable frame in the hive. I have had a sheet of glass
9 by 16 inches, put into the back of the hive, and a door made to shut
all up when one does not want to watch them. The brood-comb is about 14
by 16 inches, and is solid with brood. I see no pollen or honey in the
comb. There are young and old bees. The old have the abdomen a bright
yellow, with narrow black bands, while the young (?) are much darker in
colour; but I cannot speak with much certainty, for I have not studied
them long enough yet. They sting, but the sting is not much worse than
that of the Apia indica—at least I judged so, for inputting them into
place, my assistant was stung four times, but it was not followed by
swelling. The sting is much larger than the common bee, of course; and
as one of my Karens said last night,` It makes a hole at once.' Yet, I
judge that it is bearable.
Their wings are beautifully irradiant; and looking at them on their comb
by night, with a strong light, they are most beautiful. This morning they
are going out of and into their hive and looking all about their home.
Will they stay and go to work or not? is the question; we shall see.
One thing I notice: they are far less excitable than Apis indica. They
move slowly, do not dash about their cage, and struggle for the exit like
that bee. They impress one, however, with an idea of ` reserve power,' if
they have a mind to use it. I do not think they are quick on their combs
to repair the damage, but I cannot yet speak with definiteness. I also have a
swarm of the'Melipona' working well.
I have been studying the Apis dorsata, and there seem to be two kinds of
this bee in Burmah, each quite distinct, though I have not yet secured
specimens for comparison. One kind is yellowish in colour, and usually
builds nests on the limbs of very high trees, or in rocky cliffs, while
the other is nearly black, hairy, and builds in thickets or on limbs of
trees, or on creepers, often near the ground. Both are unicomb bees. The
former kind is often vicious; the latter is very gentle, according to all
reports, and the natives have no fear of it at all. They often approach
the nests of the latter by daylight, and take off pieces of comb, without
smoking or protection of any kind whatever, and without often being
attacked by the bees. The former kind defends its nest with great vigor;
and if they once set upon an enemy, they follow very persistently for a
long distance, and sometimes natives thus pursued must make to a
neighboring stream to escape. One ruse for escape is to break off a
thickly leaved bush and plunge into the water, and allow the branch to
float down with the current, while the fugitive plunges into the water.
The bees then follow the branch downstream and lose sight of their
victim. Yet, the first kind with the yellow markings is not always so
vicious, as they can be easily subdued with smoke; and if handled
carefully they seem to be as gentle as many kinds of Apis mellifica. Both
kinds leave Burmah at the beginning of the rains and return on February
1st each year. They usually return to their former place of abode. This
is especially true of the yellow kind, which occupies a chosen tree or
trees in a particular locality, year after year so that the natives buy
and sell these trees as valuable property.
I judge that these bees migrate to some distance to the north, for these
reasons: 1. The reason why they migrate at all seems to be the exposed
position of their nests, on the underside of the limbs of high trees,
exposed to all weathers. The high winds and the violent showers of the
beginning of the monsoons would always destroy their nests. I never saw a
nest survive the rains; hence, migrating on account of the rains, they
must need go to a climate where the rains are less violent, or where
they can find sheltering cliffs in which to build. 2. When they return
they are often found resting near the ground, before selecting the tree
on which to build a new home. Sometimes they will rest there a week and
then take flight again. At such times they are very cross, and the
natives are very careful not to go near them. There are no cliffs or
rocks in Burmah in which these bees can build; if there were, they might
remain here the year-round, as I understand they do in Ceylon and in
Northern India.
In the Padung-Karen country, about eighty miles north-east from Toungoo,
these bees are in some sense domesticated, as is also the Apis indica. In
order to secure the services of the Apis dorsata, the Padungs dig a
trench in a sidehill and drive a stout stake, inclined about 45° toward
the downslope of the hill, into the ground, and lean branches of trees
against the stake on either side, making a shield from the wind. The Apis
dorsata returns to these places year after year, and the natives secure
bountiful harvests of wax and honey, always leaving some for their yellow
workers. May it not be that the Apis dorsata builds one comb, only
because it does not usually find a place to build double combs? The comb
is so large that it must indeed be a large limb of a tree to give room
for double combs.


I am strongly inclined to believe that the Apis dorsata can be
domesticated, especially the black-coloured species. Yet, to ensure
success, doubtless much study must be given to the habits of this bee.
The fact, as I am informed, that in regions of less rain, in cliffs and
rocks, these bees are found year after year, goes to show that migration
is not necessary to this bee as to ' birds of passage,' &c. ; that if the
conditions are favorable they may be kept the year-round. The fact that
these bees can be mistaken for hornets by the natives, as in Mr Bentons
experience in Ceylon, shows how little we can depend on their judgment in
such matters.—A. Bunker, Toungoo, Burmah, Feb. 28,1885.
(American Bee Journal.)

HOMES OF THE HONEY BEE.
THE APIARIES OF OUR READERS.

The apiary seen above with its owner belongs to a bee-keeper of the
persevering sort, who is not deterred by a few failures owing to
mischance. His " advice ' to beginners " may be usefully taken to heart,
though we hardly go so far as waiting for "a yield of half a ton of honey
before seeing a queen bee." For the rest, his interesting "notes" need no
addition from us beyond a word of thanks for his appreciation of the help
he has had from our journals after ten years' reading. He says :
"I commenced bee-keeping at Nottingham in 1894, and like many other
beginners, I bought my first stock in the autumn instead of spring. The
stock in question consisted of about half a pint of bees in an
ill-fitting frame-hive, with practically no food in stores. As might have
been expected, the bees died before Christmas, and, having been taken in
through ignorance, I determined that this should not occur again.
I, therefore, began taking the Bee Journal and read `Modern
Bee-keeping,' and all other bee books I could get hold of. Thus prepared,
I made another start the following year on right lines and succeeded in
getting together a nice little apiary; when disaster overtook me in the
shape of a regular flood. My bee-garden was three miles from home, and I
had put the hives in a hollow for shelter, and weighted them well down.
Then we had a heavy fall of deep snow, followed by a sudden thaw, and,
later on, heavy rain, which drowned the lot! Nor did this end my
troubles. In the following spring, I ordered two more swarms. One turned
out queenless, the other arrived when I happened to be away from home
and was left next door till my return. My neighbor, seeing a few bees
escaping, promptly covered them over with a big hearthrug, and stifled
the lot! My wife now urged me, with some show of reason, I will admit,
not to go in for any more bee-keeping; but being fully conscious that
this chapter of accidents was not due to any lack of adaptability on my
part for bee-keeping, I felt more determined than ever to have another
try. That year I removed to my present home and laid down the lines upon
which I intended to work in the future.
The main feature was to adopt an inexpensive frame-hive that would answer
my purpose, from a practical point of view, equally well with a more
costly one.
I am indebted to Mr. E. J. Burtt, of Gloucester, for advice as to
details. The hive consisted of movable floor-board without legs,
double-walled brood-chamber at sides, eleven-inch lift with deep roof
giving twenty inches of supering room.
I contracted to have them cut for me from wood, and had them delivered in
the flat. I put them together myself, felted the roofs, and tarred them
all over except the fronts, which are painted. I keep all the hives
tarred and painted every year. I ordered my shallow frames by the gross,
cut with a shoulder instead of using metal ends. They are spaced wide so
that seven take the place of ten ordinary-sixes ones. I have used full
sheets of foundation from the commencement and stocked my hives by
driving cottagers' bees for them and taking the bees for my trouble. I
also purchased some skeps cheap at the end of the season, so that
altogether I had an apiary of over forty hives in 1901, which yielded 1
ton 3 cwt. of extracted honey, besides two gross of sections. That year
I paid for a London firm £10 for glass honey jars.
In conclusion, my advice to beginners is not to disturb your bees unless
it is absolutely necessary. I had a yield of half a ton of honey before I
ever saw a queen bee. I consider that more than half of the troubles of
beginners arise through trying to run before they can walk. The main
points are to keep strong stocks in hives provided with plenty of
supering room. Get the super out in time, pack warmly, and watch for the
right time to get the next super on. Then, when the honey-gathering for
the year is over, see that the bees do not starve in winter for want of a
full supply of stores. Do not go in for novelties; do not experiment, keep
to the beaten track until you are a bee master in fact, as well as in
name.
The photo was taken in the early spring of the year. My wife, who is a
great help to me in the apiary, stands on the left, having come out of
the house after a considerable amount of persuasion. I and faithful
collie stand on the right. Only a portion of the hives is shown, which
now number forty".
THE BEE-KEEPERS RECORD June 1906

LECTURING TOUR IN NORTH WALES.
NORTH WALES BEE-KEEPEBS' ASSOCIATION.

In my last I gave an account of our journey along the north coast of Wales, finishing off at Llandudno on Saturday night. Staying in that
fashionable watering-place until Monday morning, we packed our appliances, baggage, and ourselves into the train for Conway, where
carriages were waiting to take us on to Roe Wen, at which place we arrived at mid-day, and were hospitably entertained by a gentleman living
about two miles from the village. The lecture here was a great success.
Although only a little mountain village, there was over 150 present; in fact, the schoolroom was packed very uncomfortably close, especially for
the audience. Great interest was evinced, and the superiority of the
modern system of bee-keeping was universally approved. At this village
the first difficulty was experienced of my inability to speak Welsh, as
three-fourths of the audience were unable to speak English; but this was
surmounted very ably by Mr. Hughes, who on this occasion acted as
interpreter. On the next day, my morning was well occupied in visiting the
bee-keepers (killers) of the neighborhood, cutting holes in the tops of
their skeps, and putting supers on.
The next move was to Llanwryst, the market-town of the mountains; the
drive here was comparatively easy, as the road led along the valley of
the Conway, but it rained in torrents, swelling the mountain streams
which leaped down from rock to rock at many points all along our road. The
lecture was very well attended, the Town Hall, where it was held, being
well filled. English was spoken and understood here, except in a few
instances, in such cases being interpreted by Mr. Davies, Hon. Sec. of
the Association. At this town, I met with the most striking instance
possible of the vast amount of good and useful information contained in
the pages of the British Bee Journal. A very intelligent young man,
working in a tannery, three years ago conceived the idea of keeping his
bees in a more profitable and humane manner, and hearing of the existence
of this Journal, became a regular subscriber, and from the information, he
thus gathered entirely from its pages, has become the most successful
bee-keeper in North Wales. He had no one to assist him, no lecturer to
give him any information, no bee-keeping friend to compare notes with ;
but entirely with indefatigable perseverance and the help of the B. J.
surmounted all the difficulties of modern bee-keeping, and rode down all
the prejudices of the old school, and all this in a little stone-flagged
yard 21 ft. by 15 ft. in a densely-populated neighborhood. He took 735
lbs. of splendid coloured honey last year, and has fifteen stocks in
bar-frame hives and two in skeps to commence this season with. In this
space the regulation 3 ft. apart is impossible; the hives have to be
packed with only sufficient room between to allow of the covers being
taken off. He allowed me to go over his accounts, but as I think that to
publish the same would be treading on rather private ground, I will keep that
to myself; but suffice to say, it was an exceedingly profitable season
with him.
Gwytherin was our next destination; such roads, up one mountain, down
another, pushing up behind to assist the horses, mountains rising one
above the other all around; in fact, a piece of flat ground as big as a
cricket-field could not be seen; but at last, we arrived, just in time for
tea and a ` brush-up.' Here English was of no use whatever, and I had to
' to take a back seat.' Mr. Davies explained in Welsh the working of
frame-hives, supers, &c., and with the assistance of the diagrams I
purchased from Mr. Huckle, a very entertaining evening was spent, except
by your humble servant, who was unable to understand a word. I called on
all the bee-keepers around the neighborhood the next morning, and with the
assistance of an interpreter got on famously. As we had arranged for a
holiday on this day, we all spent our spare time fly-fishing in the
neighboring streams. The trout, I expect, didn't altogether appreciate
the visits of us modern bee-keepers in their neighborhood.
Pentre Voelas on Friday, and Llangerniews on Saturday, finished up the
week. At both of these places, success seemed to attend us, as our
audiences were large and very attentive.
Spending Sunday at Eglwysfach, the residence of Mr. Davies, on the
Conway. Monday I lectured at Maenan, a village on the top of a mountain
some four miles away. We had really an overflowing audience here, the
lecture being given in English, a description of the uses of the
appliances being given by Mr. Berry, the bee-keeper before mentioned at
Llanwryst.
Trefrew, on Tuesday, a fashionable salmon-fishing rendezvous.
Still, the audience kept up in numbers. I fancy our former successes in
this direction must have been noised before us, as each succeeding
audience on Wednesday. Here Mr. Davies allowed me to take a frame from
one of his hives and place it in an "observatory, with mother, drones.
workers, brood, &c. This was a great attraction. It was past midnight
when we arrived back from the lecture.
On the next day, Thursday, I bade good-bye to my many bee-keeping friends
who had supported me through our wanderings in this wild and mountainous
district, proceeding to Wrexham, where I was due to lecture in the
evening. It rained as hard as it could all the evening, which of course
reduced the numbers of the audience, but those that did come—a good
sprinkling of ladies braved the weather--paid the utmost attention
through a lecture of two hours' duration.
One idea seemed paramount in my thoughts all through the tour in
Denbighshire and Carnarvonshire: here is a country splendidly suited for
bee-culture, white clover in abundance, even the cottages in many
instances being completely covered with cotoneaster, and yet how few
bee-keepers! The honey I did see taken from bar-frame hives was simply
superb.
I should like publicly to thank all those—and they were numerous—who
entertained me at their houses during the three weeks I was ` on the
tramp' with such evident appreciation of my endeavors to spread the
useful information about modern bee-cultivation.
—W. B. WEBSTER, Wokingham, Berks. BBJ June 24th, 1886

BEEKEEPING - E.F. PHILLIPS (49MB)

EAST AFRICAN BEE-HIVE

I have pleasure in sending you a photo of a curious and interesting hive
which my son brought me from British East Africa, as you may care to have
it and account of the natives for the B.B.J.
—(MRS.) E. A. Birch. Devon.



'This is the type of bee-hive in use among the Wanderobbo natives in
British East Africa. The Wanderobbos is a wild tribe of
elephant-hunters, who live entirely by the chase, and who set much store
by honey. The hive which the photograph depicts is made as follows: A
tree of about 12 in. diameter is cut down, barked and split up into two
longitudinal sections, the total length of the tree-trunk shown in the
photograph is 5ft. The wood inside of each longitudinal section is dug
out, so that when the sections are fitted together they form a hollow
cylinder. In the bottom section a hole 6 in. by 4 in. is cut. The
sections are put together and bound by withies, the only holes left after
the hive thus roughly fashioned has been made is a small orifice at
the end for the entry and exit of the bees and the hole first mentioned
in the bottom section, which is closed by a bundle of hemp until such
time as the natives wish to rob the hive when they get at the honey by
putting their arms through this hole.
" After the sections have been placed together, and before they are bound
by the withies, they are rebarked. When completed the hive is placed in a
tree. The bark projections to give protection to the bees from the sun
are to be noticed at each end.'
BBJ May 26,1910.


EAST AFRICAN BEE-HIVES.

Mrs. E. A. Birch, whose "Interesting Extracts" are a pleasant feature of
our monthly Bee-keeper's' Record, sends us the accompanying photograph
illustrating the curious hives used by natives in the East African
Protectorate. A letter written to Mrs. Birch by one of the Government
officials there says:
"In looking through my old negatives, I came across one of the
honey-drum that I was looking for some time ago. I now enclose a print
for you. This one is hanging in an acacia tree. Note the type of foliage,
naturally adapted for the protection against drought and hot winds. The
leaves are small and pointed--almost 'spines. This reduces the surface
from which evaporation can take place. Then the whole of the foliage is
arranged, and the leaves themselves lie, edgeways on to the wind, very
cunning.

"A cyclist riding around Lake Naivasha —altitude about 6,000ft ., more or
less --was attacked by a swarm. He left his machine and bolted, waving
his hat--an operation which provided the bees with an opportunity for
stinging his head, which they took.
"Cases of caravans being scattered by bees are common in almost all parts
of the country, except far to the north, where desert conditions prevail.
"The Wakikuya have told me that twenty stings at once may prove fatal.
This is, however not the case, I should imagine.
"Before British occupation, an owner of honey-drums finding a stranger
tampering with them in the trees where they hung might kill him.
"In the Tana Valley a very large black bee is met with.
"It is customary for householders(European) to boil native honey thrice.
and skim off the impurities that rise to the surface."

D. E. Hutchins, in his "Report on the Forests of British East Africa,"
gives an interesting description of the bee-hives used there :
"Bees (Apis mellifera var. Adamsoni) represent a considerable source of
forest wealth. At present, the honey is eaten and forms a dearly-loved
article of food; the wax is usually thrown away. Bees are so abundant in
the forest that it seems likely that beeswax, in the future, will become
an important source of forest revenue. There are regions in equatorial
Africa where milk and honey form the chief diet of the natives. All
through the Kikuyu country bee-hives are common.
The natives take three or four feet of a soft-wooded tree, hollow it out,
and then fit a piece of split board at each end. These hives are very
common. Sometimes two or three will be seen in one large tree, and tied
as high as 50 ft. or more from the ground. The bees are not put into
these hives, but they go in of themselves. These hives are of exactly
similar appearance. When a swarm leaves one of these hives and finds
another of exactly similar appearance, it naturally makes its home there.
This system of bee-keeping saves a great deal of trouble, and the yield
of honey from these hives is large. Practically all the bees of the
country live in this state of semi-domestication."
BBJ JAN, 1912.


THE HONEY BEE - FRANK BENTON (29MB)

INTERNET ARCHIVE HIVE BOOKS                       1.       2. 

A TRIP TO THE HEATHER WITH THE BEES

Are you going to take your bees to the moors next week? Have you got any
one to go with you?' are the questions asked by several of my
acquaintances when the first of August comes round; but I have to reply
I am going to take two friends that arranged to go with me months ago,
and there on the bee-wagon are as many as can be conveniently seated.
Every night for a week I have been busy filling the hives up for the
journey. Straw hives are secured on to the bottom boards by strong wire,
and three screws are put through the cane hoop at the bottom and screwed
into the wood. The crates for the frame-hives have all been examined,
several sections are well advanced with comb since the honey harvest here
the last month, and a few are full: these I take out and put empty ones in
their place. The hives are all screwed on to the bottom boards, each hive
is numbered, and particulars of each entered into a book.
The day of removal arrives, and the weather as propitious as ever.
Nothing to do today but see that one of the colliery horses is secured
and kept in the stable with plenty to eat. Seven p.m. and we commence to
close the bees in with wire gauze, and take off ventilating covers, and
commence loading the bee-wagon, a wagon made for the purpose with two
decks. Frame-hives are put below and straw hives above, all other
requisite appliances put into the box, which is also the seat of the
wagon. Then after partaking of a good supper we get our horse yoked and
start our journey twenty miles west. The night is very misty.
After getting a short distance out of the village we find a friend
waiting for us with his hive at a lane end. We soon secure the hive into
the wagon, and, knowing his ardent desire to go with us, I plan a seat
for him; and then we get underway again. We soon come to a heavy bank,
and we all get off. The horse rushes up, for he has no patience. We have
several times to dismount, for it is a climb upward for twelve miles.
Nothing eventful happens during the darkness. We occasionally meet
companies of miners going to work, and in passing through colliery E.S—
my friends are surprised to see in so many of the miner`s cottages the
people are all astir, and it is now one o'clock in the morning, but such
is the miner's calling: he is wanted at all times of the night. At two
o'clock it is very dark and the mist is very dense. The road being black
I have to hold the lantern as far down as I can, and can just discern the
roadside, and the road here is very uneven. We all sit close together
with all our wraps on wishing for daybreak.
On arrival at HH - there are signs of daybreak, and we put the lantern
out, and by the time we arrive at B— we can hail with joy` the smiling
morn.' We have now reached the highest point of our journey, 868 feet
above sea level. The place we come from is ten miles inland, and only
108 feet above sea level. Our progress has been slow—it is now 3.30
am— but it has been all up-hill.







We are now nearing the Derwent Valley.
We pass down a steep hill shaded by trees, and then we strike the valley.
The magnificent view that presents itself on this beautiful morning can
never be eradicated from my memory. When we got a little further on, clear of the embankment on the right, I was transfixed for a while in mute amazement. While I beheld the
sublime scenery of that deep, wide valley, to the southward the mist had lifted and had the appearance of a long
white cloud as white as snow; west and north-west was one vast, glorious
panorama beyond my pen to describe.
We now come to the brow of B-H-, a hill nearly a mile long; we adjust the
shoe on to one of the hind-wheels and walk down. A short distance in
front is a flat cart making slow progress, for the men cannot ' break' the wheels; we overtake them and find they are bee-men from U - F-. There are nearly twenty hives on the cart, small in size, not more than twelve inches
diameter and nine inches high inside. This size of the hive has been
used in their neighborhood for generations; they looked in the cart
really splendid. These men make their own skeps of rye-straw, and every
lap of cane seemed to be at a measured distance. Arriving at the bottom
of the valley, we halt close to the bridge crossing the river. In the
first place, we put the poke of corn to the horse's head, for there are
still six miles to go, and some hard hills to climb. We all now seem
ready for some refreshment, and as each of us opens our bundles we find
there is no lack of choice. We have not halted long until another two
wagons of bees draw up, and then begins a general inspection,
The scenery from the bridge and the music of the waters make my friends
loath to obey the order to move on, but the horse has finished feeding and
we are behind time, so there is no alternative but to move on. Before
leaving, a note is put under a hotel door, informing them that we shall
need a good dinner on returning. It is now a continual climb for three
miles, but the scenery is charming. On our right, the hills are clad to
their crest with stately fir-trees, and in the open spaces, we see the
rabbits very numerous, taking their morning gambols. We soon come to a
forest, where we descend a deep ravine, which almost shuts out the light
of day. We find it easier getting down than getting out, for the hill is
very steep. We allow our horse time to recover from the effects of the
hill, and then we soon arrive at a farmhouse and a church which has
two-thirds of its wall covered with ivy, and there is not another house
to be seen neither right or left, but we find on inquiry that there is a
scattered village over the brow of the hill on the right. Another
half-hour brings us to the summit of our climb, and we have the river in
view again, with the blue hills of heather right before us.
The view before us now is quite a change, more of a wild character, and
although not so sublime, yet it gives us a feeling of freedom; and,
together with the light refreshing breeze from the hills, we are in the
best of spirits. Another three-quarter of an hour brought us to our
destination, a farmhouse by the roadside. We enter a grass field and
drive across to where we have our stands. We first take our horse out and
stable him, and then all hands are busy unloading and adjusting the hives
on the stands as fast as we can. The sun is making us feel warm, and the
bees are telling us it is high time they had their liberty. In
half-an-hour, we have them ready for removing the gauzes. I put on the
bee-dress, and my friends step back a few paces; but they are not very
cross when they are let out, except one that is not on a wire-bottom
board. This one I let out last, and as soon as the gauze is off they come
out like a shot from a gun and make all fly. A dog standing watching us
is sent howling up the field, and some sheep over the wall are also
stung.
The bees are soon out in a cluster, and all is quiet. We are now glad to
get to the farmhouse and find the good lady has our breakfast waiting for
us, consisting of tea, bread, boiled eggs, and a large jug of milk. After
breakfast, I take the opportunity of having a short nap, but my friends
are determined not to waste time with sleep. The sky is clear, and the
sun is shining in his strength. The sportsmen are also cracking away at
the grouse, for it is the 12th of August.
After my nap is over I get up to finish what we left undone in our haste
to the hives, and I see my friends returning. They quite astonish me when
they tell me the distance they have been. We soon have all put right with
the hives, and then make down to the burn, and the day being so warm we
strip and enjoy a refreshing bath. We stroll back again, and have a look
at the stands of bees that are planted at various distances along the
wall in line with ours, and also up the south side of the field. Most
of them are straw hives and a few wood boxes.
I am sure, Mr. Editor, the sight would interest you. On one of the stands,
the skeps are fixed on wood boxes four or five inches deep, and the
entrance changed to the bottom of the box. They nearly all have a large
sod on the top as a protection from the rain, which does not look at all
respectable. There are well-nigh a hundred in this field. Some of the
owners have gone in for cheapness with a vengeance; the bottom boards
especially are very unsound. These cheap Jacks got a caution a few years
ago. One of them in loading his cart to take his bees home broke one of
the bottom boards, and the bees got out, stung the horse, and sent him
galloping away up the bank and on nearing a house with the door open it
made a sharp turn to get in, and upset the cart, and all the hives went
rolling down the hill. It finished all the hives, and many of the natives
got a taste of honey.
After decorating our wagon with blooming heather we start for home.
Arriving at the hotel at the bridge we leave our horse to the ostler ;
all our belongings are put into the box and locked in out of sight. We
find the landlady has got the note ordering the dinner, which is nearly
ready. There is just time for a walk around the garden, and then we sit
down to a substantial dinner, which does us all a deal of good. After
dinner, I am inclined to rest at ease, but my friends want to see S—Spa
Pleasure Grounds, and, being in no hurry to get home, we set off. A short
walk brings us to Grounds; a flat opening at the bottom of the valley,
surrounded with trees in all directions, We stroll about through the
wood, and along by the riverside, until we are satisfied. After merely
feeling the taste of the spa water- for we don't think we are in need of
such medicine- we return and commence our journey home, feeling rather
disappointed in having to leave this pleasant valley.
On reaching L — we fall in with some friends who have been on the same
errand as ourselves. They are going to make a halt and feed their horse,
and, for the sake of their company, and to hear how their bees have done
at home, we halt as well, and rest for three-quarters of an hour, and
then move on homewards. The scenery for the rest of our journey does not
interest us much. There are so many collieries and coke ovens that we see
every day, but on arriving at K—, we resolve to rest again and have some
tea. We have felt the day to be such a happy release from the monotony
of business life that we are in no hurry to be home. However, this has to
be our last stop, and then we jog on home again. On nearing home I am
startled by a movement behind me, and, turning round, am just in time to
steady one of my friends from falling off the wagon. He has despised the
demands of sleep, but now he is compelled to put himself into a
secure position and give way to sleep for ten minutes. We arrive at home
at seven p.m. A friend is on the look-out for us and takes charge of the
conveyance. I leave all to him, and make no delay in getting off to bed,
and have eleven hours of unconsciousness.
—W.J. THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL December 8th, 1887

PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING ARTHUR M. STURGES (15MB)

The Ever Present ..... Sea-lavender

The lavender coloured flat-topped small blossoms found on salt marshes, together with a public information board on the natural world's points of interest.

When the summer weather has turned out to be poor and the beekeeper is faced with empty supers and strong colonies, they can be used to advantage if sites have been found on the heather or sea-lavender to extend the season.



Sea-lavender ( Limonium - Lambs ears/Statice) is known to flower arrangers as a good dried flower, it is also an excellent honey plant. It can be found on the edges of salt marshes often growing alongside another honey yielder the sea aster (Aster tripolium) from July to September. The mudflats on which it is found are subject to high fortnightly spring tides which sometimes in stormy weather cover the plant and cause it to stop yielding nectar for several days until it dries out. The sea breezes on the coast are not to the bees liking and so a sheltered spot, as close to the plant as possible, should be set up. Another danger can be picking up foulbrood if an area is popular and like the heather, they should be moved in the cooler night to avoid over-heating. Despite this, if there is a fine settled spell it yields well, the honey has a delicious soft bitter taste, and valuable stocks have not been wasted. Management is similar to going to the heather with stocks crammed full with sealed brood and headed by a young queen.
BICKERSTAFFS September 2008


PLANTS AND BEEKEEPING F.N. HOWES (26MB)

INTERNET ARCHIVE POLLINATION BOOKS              1.                       2.

AMONG THE QUEEN-RAISERS IN THE NORTH OF ITALY

By THOMAS B. BLOW, F.L.S, Author of A Beekeepers Experiences in the East, &c.

The many controversies which have arisen during the past three years with
respect to the merits or demerits of the Italian bees, induced me, in the
interests of British bee-keeping, to pay a visit to the north of Italy
to study them in their native habitats, and to come to some decision as
to their qualities as compared with other races, and more especially with
the English bees.
Those who have carefully noted the published accounts of the Italian bees
from their first introduction will remember the surprising successes that
were years ago achieved, and I could call to mind several who have kept
Italians for many years, and still hold that they are far ahead of the
blacks. The Americans, too, quite upheld this opinion, and hold it
strongly still.
Carefully considering these facts, I was led to think that the root of
the evil, and the reason for the many and grievous complaints that have
lately been made, might lie in the inferiority of the queens imported
during the last few years. Those who years ago went in strongly
for Italians (and have succeeded), usually kept up their stock by
breeding from the best, rather than by constantly importing queens. And
the same method obtains in America, where most of the Italians are
home-raised--not imported—and I think it will be admitted on all sides,
that, as far as scientific queen-raising is concerned, the Americans
stand at the head of the world: though the successful persons in
England, that I allude to, are probably individually equal.
To get the best results we ought, undoubtedly, to import the finest
Italian queens, and then to raise the best from them here; keeping up the
stock by occasional importations, perhaps. In this way we can perpetuate
the best features of the race, and at the same time get bees that are
perfectly acclimatized. For it is an admitted fact, that the bees, the
immediate progeny of imported queens, are far more liable to
disease--especially dysentery—than the progeny of a home-raised Italian.
And, with the facilities which modern bee-keepers have, there is not the
least difficulty in getting the home-raised queens purely mated, and thus
practically keeping our strain pure, if absolute purity is desirable.
The complaints made by those dissatisfied with Italians are: (1) They do
not winter well; (2) As honey producers they do not equal the English bee;
(3) That they are very vicious and unmanageable: (d) and lastly, some
have asserted that a very virulent form of foulbrood has been introduced
by them. From an examination (extending over a considerable time) of many
apiaries, I have come to the conclusion that most of the evil repute that
has fallen upon Italians has been brought about by the inferior queens
sent. In some cases the breeders knew nothing about their business, and
procured the cheap queens which are sent so freely in the autumn, by
going around and collecting them from the stocks condemned by the country
people to be taken up for the honey; they get these and the bees for
about a franc a stock. By this system many queens would be quite old and
worn out, others unfertilized, and therefore drone breeders; and in a
district where foulbrood occurred, of course, the disease would go with
the queens, and disastrous results would follow by its introduction into
the apiary of the unsuspecting British bee-keeper. I have in my mind's
eye one case of a well-known cottage bee-keeper, whose apiary was utterly
ruined by the introduction of foulbrood by Italian queens. This system
of getting queens from condemned bees I saw in full swing in many cases
(in one case by the servants of a well-known exporter); the time of year
being most favorable for this practice. and I certainly saw several fine
examples of foul-broody combs.
In other apiaries, no trouble seemed to be taken with the quality of the
queens, such as selecting the best queens to raise progeny from, nor was
any attention paid to the raising of drones from suitable stocks. These
great considerations were quite neglected; the great point seems to be,
the largest number of queens in the shortest possible time, and with the
least trouble: and, as far as I can judge, many were sent off without it
being definitely known that they were fertilized, and I feel sure that
some such queens arrive in England and are here fertilized, as, is the
course of my experience as an expert. I have had shown to me many stocks
of bees that I was assured were the progeny of an imported queen, but
were certainly hybrids. Again on inquiry after some of those who
advertise their finest Italians in the Continental and American Bee
Journals ( American especially) I found what they were simply agents
people who hardly knew what a queen was: they bought their queens from
the country folk and all their part of the business was to sell them :
need I add that these people did not wish to see me?
My visits to apiaries extended over the country between Bellinzona and
Montselice; this embraced the mountainous district of the northern
Italian lakes. the plains of Lombardy, and again the hilly country around
Bologna.
I may say at once that I certainly prefer the bees from the mountains, as
they seemed much more vigorous and hardy: and the results in the way of
honey-gathering, as far as I could get at facts, was certainly far
better. The bees from these hilly parts would, too, be better suited for
our climate. The number of apiaries visited was large, yet I can count
upon the fingers of one hand all those who knew anything about their
business; and if those who took real pride in the production of their
queens, and who use really scientific means to ensure the best results,
then the number would certainly be less than five.
I shall describe the apiaries of the best of these raisers, and their
methods; but before doing so, will give the conclusions which I have come
to with regard to Italians: That, excepting perhaps Carniolans, there are
no better bees than Italians, if care is taken to get the best queens
from a raiser of recognized merit.
That the bees of the mountains are hardy, vigorous workers, great
honey-gatherers, prolific, and certainly gentle, and in their own country
not given to robbing much.
That, to get the best results from Italian bees, we must get a good
strain to start with, and then, by careful selection, raise our own
queens, and be constantly on the look-out for those having the most
desirable characteristics, and to propagate from them only.
I can name one very striking case in my own county where all these points
have had most careful attention given to them and with the result that
that bee-keeper is not only the best in the county but one of the best
in England as far as results go; and practical results (the largest
amount of honey, of the highest possible quality, got with the least
expenditure of labor on the part of the bee-keeper) are what we require
in this age of keen competition.
The first apiary which I visited belonged to Jean Pometta, and was on the
hills above Gudo, near Bellinzona. He had promised to meet me at
Bellinzona station; but on account of the breakdown of the telegraph
wires, owing to a heavy fall of snow, he failed to be there. However, it
was not much trouble to find him. Everybody whom I asked was able to
direct me to the man who had a lot of bees; and after a most picturesque
walk of two or three miles, I arrived at his home, in the midst of
vineyards, and with a waterfall close by, which would have made the
fortune of any man in England who possessed it. He was from home; not
having got my telegram he did not expect me. I had a chance therefore, of
looking at his apiary at my leisure and without any interruption, which
is always an advantage. His father a venerable old man received me in a
very hospitable manner, and, as Mr. Pometta is a vineyard-owner as well as
a queen-raiser, I was able to see all the vineyard operations in full
swing. I may say that he takes pride in his wine products as well as in
his bees; and he showed me with great interest an ancient-looking, squat
flagon of Aqua Vitae, very old, of his own distilling, that had taken a
gold medal at Zurich.
I found an immense number of stocks of bees, many of them in bar-frame
hives with straw sides; the majority of them on the Italian plan, opening
at back, and iron tongs being used to remove the combs. There were, too,
a large number of nucleus hives, with bar-frames lifting out in the
ordinary way. The bees were of the leather-colored strain, not the
bright yellow-coloured bees such as I saw later on in Lombardy. To show
their energy, I may mention, that Mr. Pometta told me that they are
usually at work at six in the morning, and that on one or two occasions
he actually saw them at work by very bright moonlight, We have heard this
same story from the Americans, and I fear every one has doubted it.
On Mr. Pometta's return we went through many stocks, and I had explained
to me his whole system of queen-rearing. I found that I had just missed
Mr. Cowan and M. Bertrand, who had called about two days before on their
return journey from the bee-show at Milan.

The system used of rearing queens depends upon the time of year. In the
early spring (when loss of heat must be much guarded against) a stock is
taken, and, by means of three dummies, is divided into four nuclei, the
hive being made with four entrances for this purpose. In this way five
queens are secured from one stock ; and, though the system is a somewhat
wasteful one (Fig. 1), yet it answers, as the price obtained for queens
in early spring is comparatively high. Another plan is to preserve
a large number of small stocks with young queens in the autumn. In the
spring two or three of these can be united, and one strong stock formed,
and the surplus queens sold.
fig 1

As the season advances, the nucleus hives are used;
each nucleus being large enough to be again divided into two. (Fig.2.) By
this plan better queens can be reared, and in good quantity too. The bars
of these are of just such a size that two will fit into the large bars of
the Italian hives.


This, of course, is of great service to the
queen-raiser in many ways, such as making up nuclei for queen
fertilisation, and afterwards for strengthening such with hatching-brood.
The finest queens are selected to raise progeny from: and to secure eggs
all of one age two small frames are placed in one larger one, and this
introduced into the centre of the stock containing the queens whose eggs
we desire.Or,if this queen is in a small hive, one bar of comb is placed
in the centre ; the comb should be fairly fresh and new, as, if so, it
will be more regularly and readily filled with eggs. On the fourth day
these combs will be found filled with newly hatched eggs. The combs are
cut from the bars, and sliced up as shown in illustration (Fig.3).

The egg in each alternate cell is then removed (Fig. 4), and the strip (Fig.
4a)



fastened with pins into another bar half full of comb. See
illustration (Fig. 5).
If there is a very great demand for queens one bar can he made to contain
two strips of comb fastened in this way,


(Fig. 6), though usually only one strip is used.
These bars are placed in a suitable stock,and we soon have beautifully
regular rows of queen-cells produced. The cells can be cut apart without
injury, and inserted in the nuclei for subsequent hatching, and cosequent
fertilisation, and we get thus far better results than by the old plan of
notching combs to induce queens to raise queen-cells (Fig.6a).


Mr. Pometta thinks it of the highest importance that each grub should
have a full supply of royal jelly ; the test of
this is that some should be left in the cell, after the queen has
hatched;therefore, before the cells are sealed over, he looks
through and picks out with his knife any with apparent short supply,
Still further,to secure these desired results,he takes care that the hive
into which the rows of cells are put for feeding and rearing, does not
contain brood in this larval state,as this brood would perhaps get
food to the detriment of the queen cells.In about a week the sealed
cells are cut apart and placed in nuclei to hatch and get fertilised;
and after this has happened the young queens are packed and sent off,and
fresh queen-cells introduced.
It is, however,desirable to wait two or three days before introducing
fresh queen-cells,especially if the bees are old; and then, if with one
sealed cell,two or three open ones are introduced,it often prevents the
sealed one being torn down. Of course, sometimes more queen-cells are
ready for hatching than there are nuclei ready to receive them. In this
case Mr. Pometta uses a very successful series of queen cages. (See
figs.7 and 8.)


The cells are put into these,and a bit of sponge with
honey and water is put to each, and the whole affair placed in the hive.
The queens hatch, and can be kept till nuclei are ready for them. Three
or four days, however, is as long as they should be kept in these cages.


The larger cage (Fig.9) is used for putting in fertile queens. When these
unfertilised queens are introduced into the nuclei they must be caged;
and if, when we go to release them, we find the bees attempting to gnaw
the cage, then it is unsafe; but if they are fanning, then we may release
them with certainty of success.
The packing of queens was next shown.Heather honey being used to sustain
the bees intended for Europe, whilst clover-honey is used for those going
to America, And other long journeys; the heather not suiting the bees so
well when they have to be shut up for a long period.
Though Italians are considered in this country as proof against wax-moth,
they certainly cannot contend always successfully against it in their own
country, for I saw several colonies much infested.
Next day we went to Gordola to see another apiary, and also the workshops
where the queen-boxes are made up.
Mr. Pometta to also has a considerable apiary at Airolo just where the
Gothard Tunnel comes out on the Italian side. The honey from this
district is extremely fine, though the place is too high for queen-rearing.
Mr. Pometta notes three kinds of drones—black, white, and red-eyed.
During our drives we looked at several country apiaries, and noticed that
the bees were kept in tubs, boxes, pieces of trees, &c., with crossed
sticks inside for he bees to steady their combs by, and that the entrance
was often in the shape of a cross, the natives believing that this brings
luck. The entrances were often halfway up the hive, so that the bees
would not have so far to go to reach the cluster in the winter time, nor
would the entrance be liable to be blocked by dead bees. This same style
of entrance prevails very much in straw hives in Belgium and the north of
France. Great carelessness seems to prevail in leaving about the apiaries
fragments of honey comb, and yet, to my surprise, this practice did not
appear to cause robbing. I was informed that the average weight of the
swarms ranged from two and a half to three kilogrammes.
Mr. Pometta is one of the few people in Italy who make comb-foundation ;
this he produces on a very fine Dunham machine: but this he had never
been able to get geared quite correctly, and consequently was not able to
get absolutely perfect foundation. It was with great pleasure that I took
off my coat, and turned up my sleeves, and had a turn at
foundation-making; and having got the gear in order, we turned out some
foundation in splendid style. I was glad thus to render some little
return for all the information which he had given given and all the
hospitality he had shown me.
On my way to the station we visited the apiary of Mr.Mona,who sends his
bees to Germany principally; it is a fairly large concern, although the
system employed was not, I consider, very advanced or scientific. There I
saw a solar wax extractor, which in the rays of an Italian sun was
answering well, and the resulting wax was all that could be desired.
There are many other devices which Mr. Pometta uses that space would fail
me to tell; but I can say, that as I parted with him at the station, I
felt that I was leaving a master of the art of queen-raising, and that I
had added much to my stock of knowledge.
In later articles I shall give details of my visit, to Dr. Dubinii of
Gallarate, to Sartori of Milan, Mdme. Chinni and Mr. Paglia of Bologna,
and Mr. Fiorini of Montselice.

THOMAS B. BLOW (BBJ April 1886 continued)
Leaving Bellinzona I went on to Locarno, and visited many country
apiaries among the mountains around, and, from the statements made by
the bee-keepers, it would seem that the average per stock for honey was
fairly high: this result would be probably due to the united qualities of
the district and the bees, the country being very fertile indeed. Then
taking the steamer down the lovely lake of Maggiore, with its vine and
tree clad hills, past the Borromean Islands—a most delightful journey,
with lovely views of the distant Alps, and with weather most perfect
though so late in the season—to Arona, and thence per rail to Milan.
Though bees were principally the object of my journey I could not forbear
taking a day to see the sights of Milan, foremost amongst which is the
lovely cathedral of white marble, with its delicate tracery and fine stat-
uary: the Milanese, too, are justly proud of their electric lighting,
which, is certainly very perfect, and the effect at night in the Grand
Square, with the cathedral in tho background, is very striking. Most of
the very fine shops, too, in the square and its arcades are lighted with
the small incandescent lamps. Dr. Dubini was here, of course, the first
man to see,his name being known far and wide. I found that he had been
taking a very active part in the bee show held a few days before I
arrived, and that he had now gone to his country residence to rest;he
lives at Cassano Mognogo,near Gallarate, about an hour's jouney by rail from the city;
and on arriving at the station, his mansion, called the Villa Dubini, was
pointed out to me on the top of the hill about a mile distant. A pleasant
walk along a road, crowded with country people in their best clothes
looking very picturesque --it was Sunday, their holiday day soon brought
me there, and a most cordial reception I received from the Doctor. His
house commands most charming views, being on a hill in the midst of flat
country, and is surrounded with beautiful gardens and terraces. Though
not a raiser of queens, he had so much to show me in other things that
the best had to be made of the time, as I could not stay longer than the
evening. By far the most clever theorist in bee-keeping that I had met
abroad, yet Dr. Dubini is still sufficiently practical; his great forte
is the invention of appliances,the number that I saw being Legion. A
swarm-catcher (Fig. I)

struck me as being a most useful invention; and as,in this country
nothing of the sort is ever used, and swarms are frequently lost, a
description may not be out of place. It is a bag made of enamelled cloth,
with the shining side inside, and is carried on a long pole ; the hoop
around the top of the bag is jointed, and after the swarm is shaken in,
by means of a pulley and a string running down the pole, the hoop is
closed;the inside being shining and slippery there is no difficulty
in shaking every bee out into the hive, or wherever they are to be put.
One or two little pieces of wire cloth are fixed about it for
ventilation, though the swarms should not be kept in it longer than
needful. A dry sugar-feeder (Fig. 2)
next calls for attention,
and for simplicity it is certainly unsurpassed. It consists of nothing
more than an ordinary bar-frame, having l-inch laths with bevelled edges
nailed on each side; the sugar is shot in from the top, the affair is
placed in the hive, and the bees stand on the bevelled edges and take the
sugar. I was assured that it was most effective, and I think it is a
great advantage on the clumsy tin dry sugar-feeders, so many of which
have been brought out in this country. Dr. Dubini is an advocate of dry
sugar feeding at certain times of the year. We have heard so much,too,of
late about the ways of introducing queens to stocks in this country that
I was glad to see a little of how it was done in Italy. Dr.Dubini does
not introduce queens direct,and without caging nor does he put a
bar of comb on which are bees and queen into tho middle of the stock
requiring a new queen without due precaution. For a queen alone a pipe-
covered cage, with an arrangement to liberate the queen without
disturbing the bees, is used (Fig. 3).
I found that he agreed with me
that the most important thing was not to disturb the bees at the time of the liberation of the queen, which, if done, was generally a source of trouble, the queen either being killed or encased. Then, if a bar of comb, queen, and bees be introduced, a wire cage to take the whole is used with an arrangement for uniting them together quietly. (Fig. 4.)

I may say that I met no one in the course of my journey who had, with any degree of success practiced direct introduction.
A good idea for grafting in queen-cells is here shown (Fig. 5).

We often spoil a nice sheet of the comb by cutting out a piece containing a queen-cell
from one comb, and grafting it into another. By using this contrivance
the piece coming out of one comb fits into the other, and so both combs
are kept in good condition. It is simply a piece of tin with the edges
filed sharp.
The getting rid of bees from supers has always been a matter of some
little difficulty to beginners here, and this device (Fig. 6)

It is certainly very simple and effective. A plain box with a door at one end
is taken, and at the top a long wire` gauze tube is fixed. The supers to
be rid of bees are put inside the box, and, of course, the bees fly to
the light, and escape at the top of the tube. This box may be placed in
the open air, as there is no danger of other bees entering; they may try
to do so, but always try to enter at the base of the tube, and, of
course, cannot: they have not the sense to go to the top of the tube and
down. The simplicity and cheapness of this should cause it to come into
general use here. Dr. Dubini keeps his bees in hives that are an
invention of his own, which are a kind of a cross between the ordinary
upright Italian hive and the English bar-frame hive. (Fig. 7.)

The frames can be taken out from the back by means of tongs, ( fig. 8)


( these tongs are in universal use in Italy, Austria, and Germany), or the top can be
removed, and the frames lifted out in the same way as an ordinary
bar-frame hive. Double-walled hives are not in use, as the climate does
not seem to necessitate them. The supering arrangements are of a very
primitive kind, simply a rough box with bars in it; the small opening F in
Fig. 7 shows where bees enter into the super, and though I saw a few
sections they were certainly far from our standard in point of quality.
In the art of obtaining honey in comb the Italians are far behind us, and
I believe many surprises were caused at the Milan Exhibition by the sight
of some sections which Mr. Cowan took.
Dr.Dubini had but few bees, having lost heavily through foulbrood; as a
remedy for this he believes in the fumigation with salicylic acid and
uses a machine of this kind (Fig. 9)
which, so long as the temperature is
not too high, is probably effective. E lamp, D jacket, in which C (the
receptacle fur the acid) is placed, and which prevents acid from
overheating. We took a walk through the village to call on the local
expert, who keeps a large number of stocks; unfortunately he was from
home. The village priest, too, close by, keeps a very large number.
Dr. Dubini has another, and usually much larger apiary at his farm close
by, and this we next visited; the bee-hives were in a very fine
bee-house, and one of his farm men seemed to take great interest in
looking after these stocks.
All around here are quantities of lime and chestnut trees; these latter
the Italians object to very much on account of the bad quality of honey.
This farm apiary Dr. Dubini is going to replenish, as he assured me he
could not live without his bees. There was much more to see and hear, but
the evening was drawing on and after a most pleasant talk over dinner
the Doctor drove me down to the station, and I returned to Milan, after a
a most pleasant day spent in the company of one of the most genial and
hospitable men I ever met.
On the outskirts of Milan—and just far enough out to keep bees---I found
the establishment of Mr. Luigi Sartori, and he a most enterprising and
business-like man; his depot for hives, bees, and every sort of
appliance, is, I believe, by far the largest in Italy. There were piles
of hives of every sort, most of the modifications of the upright hives,
some having the fronts most artistically painted and decorated. Barrel
honey-extractors were, too, a great feature here, and very good ones they
were, though the material used was zinc, to which Mr. Sartori thought
there was no objection. The apiary, too, in the midst of the works was a
very large one, and the way that some hundredweights of the old comb were
scattered about in heaps for the bees to clean certainly surprised me,
and would have ruined any English apiary. The bees were doing their
cleaning work well and did not appear to get angry or to rob. Mr.
Sartori said that he always did that thing with his old comb
and that no harm came of it. Besides his appliance business he was a
large dealer in honey and wax, and the quantity in hand was very great,
and the quality of some of the samples that I tasted very fine indeed.
The apiary at the works was not, of course, used for queen-rearing, but
there was a larger apiary in the country kept for that purpose and Mr.
Sartori ships a great number of queens—to America principally, though
this year a lot have been sent to India. The bees were very bright yellow
indeed, so much so that I really thought that some Eastern blood must
have been introduced among them; and some of the queens shown to me were
very fine -the largest by far that I had ever seen. Mr. Sartori had been
making a great display at the late exhibition in Milan, and I was much
interested in seeing some of his exhibits, more especially his collection
of bees in spirit. The number of prizes he had taken was very large.
With regard to the merits of Mr. Sartori as a queen-raiser, not having
seen his queen-raising apiary, I am unable to say much. However, as a
manufacturer he is evidently an advanced man, who keeps well abreast of
the needs of the time.
On my way to Bologna I saw many country apiaries, some of them having the
hives ranged on shelves on the fronts of the farm-houses.Bologna is a kind
of centre of queen-raising, at least from advertisements, I had
always thought so, but on inquiry, I had some difficulty in finding some
of the so-called queen-raisers, and ascertained that, in some instances,
they were merely agents, who knew nothing about queen-rearing, and that
their sole business was to sell queens.
However, in Lucio Paglia and Josephine Chinni, I found two conscientious
queen-raisers, though, perhaps, their methods were not so scientific and
advanced as in the apiary I described in my last, Mr. Paglia is a
queen-raiser on quite a large scale, the largest concern of the sort I
had seen; he has two apiaries, one at Castel St. Pietro d'Emilia quite in
the country, this being devoted entirely to queen-raising, and another,
an imposing affair in the Public Gardens, just outside Bologna, which is
devoted principally to honey-raising.
I took a train to Castel St. Pietro, and was very kindly received by Mr.
Paglia, who is also a wine-grower and large farmer, owning his own land,
quite a large estate. He showed me over his apiary, consisting of a large
number of hives scattered over the grounds around the house, and
apologized for the apiary not being in such good order as he could wish,
as he was just rebuilding his residence, and remodeling the whole place.
His system of queen-raising was very good, and he uses a great number of
rather large nucleus hives for the raising and fertilizing of his queens.
Though very careful in the selection of his stocks for rearing queens
from, he does not go in for the elaborate system of getting the
accurately built rows of queen-cells, like Mr. Pometta ; nor does he
consider it so needful to take all larval brood out of the hive, while
queens are being reared.
Mr. Paglia went back to Bologna to show me his apiary there in the public
gardens; and he had the largest and prettiest bee-house I ever saw; it
was fully 150 feet long, with a fair-sized room at each end for packing
and storing honey, &c., with rows of hives standing in the space between.
There were nearly 100 hives in the bee-house, and they had been run
chiefly for honey during the past season; and he told me that he
obtained 1400 kilograms from these hives, and had leftover twelve
kilograms in each hive for winter use. The wind from the hills being
cold here in the winter necessitates the packing of straw in the spaces
between the hives for protection. All these hives- and in nearly all the
Italian hives which I saw—had glass dummies, and are left in the hives
all the winter, Mr. Paglia may be considered as a most practical,
enterprising, and reliable queen-raiser.
A lovely drive of fourteen miles through a charming hilly country, all
well cultivated, brought me to Praduro-e-Sasso, where Madame Josephine
Chinni has her apiary. All of us know, that in England a good many
members of the scholastic profession go in for bee-keeping, and here we
have a queen-raiser in the shape of the village schoolmistress assisted
by her daughter. Madame Chinni, with whom I had dealt for some years, was
delighted to see one of her English customers; and many inquiries I had
to answer, relating to others in England who dealt with her, for she
supposed I knew them all.
This concern is not a very extensive one, as Madame Chinni likes to
manage the affair herself, rather than to employ labor to do it; as the
result of personal management is, she thinks, far better. A good system
of rearing prevails, carried on by a greater extent, by the subdivision
of large hives, and further by the use of large nucleus-boxes. There were
three apiaries—one at the house close to the school, and two on the
hills—and the total turn-out of queens would be, probably, not more than
between three and four hundred; sent principally to England, as Madame
Chinni prefers to turn out a small quantity of a good article, rather
than raise them wholesale. The home apiary was rather small, Madame
Chinni having had the misfortune to get nearly the whole apiary of eighty
stocks burnt last year. Praduro-e-Sasso is the most remote country place,
far away from town or rail, and I here saw Italian country life in its
primitive rustic simplicity.
Leaving Bologna, my only other call in Italy was on Mr. Fiorini at
Montselice. Mr. Fiorini is a well-known man in the town, being a large
builder; and I had no difficulty in finding him: and I knew that my visit
to him would be of more than ordinary interest, from the fact that he was
the only man in Italy, who had been to the East to investigate the merits
of the Syrian and Cyprian races of bees. Though he raises a few queens,
yet he does not make the queen-raising a business, to the extent of the
others upon whom I had called. He has a comparatively small apiary, and
we went through several stocks together, and also examined the original
stocks that he had from the East. The savageness of the Eastern races is
not so apparent in Italy as in England; and Mr. Fiorini stated that he
usually handles Eastern bees with about the same degree of ease as
Italians; but he cannot see that, at least, in Italy, they have any
advantages over the native race. He was not desirous, he said, of doing
much trade with England, as his dealings, had not been satisfactory; and
he complained bitterly of one firm who had obtained queens from him, and
from whom he had not been able to get the money.
My experiences with Italian bee-keepers here come to an end; and though I
remained in Italy for two or three days longer, yet it was at Venice; and
in that silent city, with its watery highways, no bees were to be seen,
and no bee-keepers were to be met with.

BBJ April 1886


PRACTICAL QUEEN REARING -FRANK C PELLETT  (19MB)