Dec. 29, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



879 



impetus to the develoimicnt of apiculture llirougliout the 

 world. Wr. Prokopovitcli greatly assisted the propagation 

 o{ new currents in Russian apiculture. The school of Mr. 

 Prokopovitch was materially assisted by the Government. 

 The disciples of Mr. Pokopovitch scattered throughout Rus- 

 sia ; establishing many model apiaries and teaching others. 



Due to the activity of the Government and of private per- 

 sons, interest in apiculture materially increased; many 

 new inventions of hives and apiarists' supplies came up, 

 though in spite of everything changed natural conditions so 

 undermined this industry that the decay of apiculture m.-iv be 

 clearly shown from figures I shall quote below. 



Yet in the beginning of the last century these were the 

 figures of the export of beeswax from Russia : 



Exported from 1801 to ISIO 1,250 tons, 



Exported from 1811 to ISliO 5,30G tons, 



Exported from 1821 'to 1830 8,129 tons. 



Beeswax was exported from Russia to the value of $10,- 

 173,000 for the first half of the last century. The exports of 

 beeswax from Russia for the last fifty years of the same cen- 

 tury amounted to , the value being $.580,632. In 



other words, the total exports for the first half of that cen- 

 tury amount to 94 per cent of the whole, while the figures 

 for the second half amount only to 6 per cent. In proportion 

 as the exports decreased the imports of beeswax, as well as 

 of mineral and vegetable wax, increased. 



From the above it will be seen that not only the introduc- 

 tion of various technical improvements has failed not only to 

 keep up the export of bees' products at its former height, 

 but even to satisfy the growing demands at home for the 

 products of apiculture. 



Due to this sad state of affairs among apiaries, which has 

 continued since the seventies of the last century, the Govern- 

 ment now seriously approaches the problem of investigating 

 the causes of the decay of this industry. The principal causes 

 of this are as follows : A — The destruction of forests which is 

 going on every where and the shrinkage of territory available 

 for the gathering of honey. B — The great spread of the dread 

 disease of foul brood. C — The increasing adulteration of wax 

 and honey. D — Lack of sufficient knowledge among the 

 apiculturists as to the rational care of the bees. On the basis 

 of the data gathered in the course of the inquiry a number 

 of measures have been suggested for the raising and the 

 propagation of apiculture, which measures are being effected. 

 At this period in the history of Russian apiculture there be- 

 comes prominent the active and energetic personality of the 

 Professor of Academy Alexander M. Butlerofif. He comes 

 forward first with a report on "]Measures for the explanation 

 of rational apiculture in Russia" 1871 and since that time 

 until his death he took the liveliest interest in everything 

 connected with bee-keeping. He was the head, the leader of 

 everything and of everybody. He wrote several hand-books 

 on apiculture, which were published in thousands of copies 

 and which formed the text-books for the majority of Russian 

 aoiarists. In 1886 under his management there came into 

 existence the first Journal on apiculture in Russia, — Russki 

 Ptcheloyopniy Listok — The Russian Journal of Apiculture, 

 tut also foreiirn news. 



Mr. ButlerofT established a model apiary at the AU-Rus- 

 sian Exposition at Moscow in 1882, and for twenty days gave 

 lectures on apiculture accompanied by demonstrations of vari- 

 ous apicultural devices. At that time he gathered around 

 himself a large number of followers intent on applying the 

 newest methods to bee-keeping. 



In 1887 a floating Apicultural Exhibition was arranged 

 on a barge which sailed on the River Moscowa for 30 days, 

 making ten stops, the object being to acquaint the people 

 with scientific apiculture. This Exposition was visited by 

 60,000 people in all, who were all anxious to be instructed in 

 correct bee-keeping. A second similar exposition was ar- 

 ranged in 1SS9 on the River Oka, making 27 stops and being 

 more successful even than the first. A special exhibition for 

 Apiculture was held in Moscow in 1890. Several model 

 apiaries were shown ; a course of apiculture was introduced in 

 several schools. In 18S4 tliere was opened a school at Twer 

 with the sole nurpose of giving instruction in apiculture, con- 

 taining shops for making bee-hives and bee-keepers' supplies. 

 All those enterprises owe their origin to the initiative of Mr. 

 Butleroff. In 1896 there was established at St. Petersburg 

 the first "Society of Russian Apiculturists," the aim of which 

 is the scientific and practical working of the problems of 

 apiculture, and cooperation tending towards 'the development 

 of the latter. The society started a monthly magazine. Sev- 



eral branches of the society were opened in various parts of 

 Russia. The society arranged exhibitions, conventions of 

 apiarists, apiaries for instruction, courses in apiculture for 

 teachers of the people's schools, etc. This fruitful activity of 

 the society found imitators, new societies were established, 

 of which there are now 3S with 8 divisions, and several more 

 are to come into existence. Apiculture, including both theory 

 and practice, is now taught in SO apicultural schools in Rus- 

 sia, in many teachers' seminaries and other educational insti- 

 tutions. Apiaries were to be found in 532 people's schools in 

 1896, the teachers attending to the culture. Almost every so- 

 ciety has its a"iaries, warehouses and shops for apicultural 

 supplies. Every year during the summer, courses in apicul- 

 ture are arranged for the teachers and the people in general, 

 each having hundreds of hearers annually. The South-Rus- 

 sian society has an experimental station with 30 divisions, in 

 which there are made observations tending in one direction. 

 There are several apicultural museums in Russia. In many 

 Governments (provinces) also the Zemstvos [Zemstvos are 

 administrative bodies consisting of elected representatives of 

 the several classes of population in various provinces] have 

 been active and energetic in the matter of elevating apicul- 

 ture, inviting special experts for the purpose of giving instruc- 

 tion, visiting apiaries, giving advice and practical hints. At 

 the present time there are nine apicultural journals in Russia, 

 — eight in the Russian tongue and one in Lettish. Four are 

 edited by societies and five by private individuals. Besides, 

 a large number of articles on the bee-keeping craft are pub- 

 lished in the various agricultural publications. Apicultural 

 literature grows from year to year. There are several doz- 

 ens of publications of local authors and many translations 

 from foreign languages, including such valuable works as 

 Langstroth-Dadant, Dzierzon, Berlepsch, Bertrand, Cowan, 

 Cook, Maeterlinck, DeLayens, Dubini, etc. 



In its task of self-improvement and reorganization Rus- 

 sian apiculture borrowed largely from other countries of Eu- 

 rope, particularly from Germany, which land had workers of 

 its own and stood in the front rank with regard to apiculture. 

 There is besides greater similarity in climate between Rus- 

 sia and Germany, and the means of communication are more 

 convenient. As far as apiculture in the United States is 

 concerned Russian bee-keepers knew very little of that until 

 1892, and they took little interest in it. That country seemed 

 so distant. Their ideas concerning the difference in climate 

 conditions and concerning other peculiarities of America are 

 exaggerated. In 1892 there came out in Russia a new jour- 

 nal called "Messenger of Foreign Apiculture Literature." 

 It was edited by Ghenna'-di P. Kondratiefif, a most intelligent 

 gentleman and a competent bee-keeper. Mr. Kondratiefif, 

 traveled abroad every summer, going to Germany, France, 

 Austria, Italy, Switzerland and other countries, showing the 

 keenest interest in all things appertaining to apiculture : he 

 visited the best apiaries, made the acquaintance of foremost 

 apiarists and their apicultural establishments. He found 

 many things adaptable to Russian conditions and assumed the 

 task of acquainting Russian apiarists with foreign apicultural 

 methods. This was the idea of publishing that journal which 

 has now become a lively echo of all that which may be use- 

 fully adapted from foreign methods to Russian apiculture. 

 Mr. Kondratieff was well acquainted with the celebrated Swiss 

 apiarist M. Edward Bertrand, who frequently described 

 American apicultural methods in his journal, "Revue Inter- 

 nationale d'Apiculturc." It was the esteemed Mr. Charles 

 Dadant who awakened special interest among Europeans in 

 American apiculture. The bee-hive with the large frame 

 which he recommended gave excellent results in Europe, and 

 the foremost apiarists in their turn commenced to recommend 

 it with great insistence. Mr. Kondratieff, as the result of his 

 tests, also warmly championed this hive and began to explain 

 American bee-keeping methods in this journal. Many orig- 

 inal articles of American apiculturists have been published in 

 translated form in this journal during the 12 years of its ex- 

 istence. Apicultural news from .\merica was also frequently 

 published. The names of the famous leaders in ,'\merica — 

 Langstroth, Dadant, Root, Miller, Benton, Good, Doolittlc, 

 Pratt, Alley, never left the pages of the journal. All that 

 could be applied to Russian conditions from Root's "A R C 

 of Bee Culture" was quoted in the columns of that paper. 

 The book of Benton was also reprinted, while Mr. Kon- 

 dratieff, together with his co-worker and the present editor 

 of the journal, Mr. V. M. Isergin, translated in full and pub- 

 lished in separate volumes the works of Langstroth, Dadant 

 and Cook. 



The result of this warm championship of Americanism 

 has been the fact that today half of all the bee-hives with 



