October. 191S 



Amgrican Hee Jonrnalj 



Everything has an end. The end 

 came. On Tuesday we left that hos- 

 pitable home with much regret. Mr. 

 Bertrand is of nearly the same age as 

 our own Dr. Miller. His hair is white, 

 but his heart is young. He is 81 years 

 young. I think he looks younger than 

 he did in 1900, when I saw him before. 



IT.-\LI.-\N SWITZERL.-\ND. 



For a whole month we traveled in 

 Switzerland leisurely, happily, going 

 from the apiaries and the bee-keepers' 

 homes to the snow peaks, or to the 

 quiet lakes. On that day. Sept 2, we 

 made a quick trip through French. 

 German and Italian Switzerland ; from 

 the southwest corner to the e.xtreme 

 southeast, passing through Lucerne, 

 for we preferred the Gothard tr.ip to 

 the Simplon. Of the trip by rail, we 



swarming over damaged grapes; a 

 clear evidence of honey dearth, and an 

 inkling to their possible misbehavior. 

 But the bees were not cross. 



.A.mong the German-Swiss bee-keep- 

 ers I had used no veil, but kept one in 

 my pocket. In this instance I did the 

 same, and inspected some 3" colonies, 

 finding them very regular, and good- 

 looking leather-colored Italians, just 

 what I was looking for. I pointed to a 

 hive and expressed a desire to open it. 

 My host brought out his smoker, a 

 European Bingham. These two words 

 must suffice to describe a most clumsy 

 imitation of the best smoker in exis- 

 tence. Why the average European 

 manufacturer cannot imitate the Bing- 

 ham smoker in its good points is be- 

 yond my comprehension. The spring 



Bellinzon.\. in Italian Switzerland. 



will speak later. It will take a special 

 letter to tell of the kaleidoscopic 

 changes of such a journey. We must 

 be brief, for we want to speak of Bellin- 

 zona and of the bees of Italian Switzer- 

 land. 



On Wednesday morning we awak- 

 ened in a hotel of that pretty ancient 

 city. Mr. Biaggi's brother, a very well 

 educated Swiss Italian gentleman called 

 upon us at 9 o'clock, to escort us to his 

 brother's apiary in PedeviUa, a mile off, 

 at the foot of the mountain. 



We were there in 2i> minutes, and 

 found the apiary among the trellises of 

 a vineyard. The grapes here are ar- 

 ranged in trellises high enough for a 

 man to walk under, and it is very in- 

 teresting to see the grapes hanging 

 over one's head. But it is not conven- 

 ient for horse and plow cultivation. 

 Nearly everything is done by hand, .^t 

 the apiary my first question was, "Are 

 your bees cross ?" I had passed a fruit 

 vendor's stall in Bellinzona a few min- 

 utes before, and had noticed the bees 



is hard, the bellows slanting to excess, 

 the air connection is poor, and the hole 

 in the nozzle so small that it allows 

 but a very small stream of smoke. 



Mr. Biaggi is one of the kind of bee- 

 keepers whom the bees do not sting, 

 or at least do not vanquish. He opened 

 the hive and we had found the queen, 

 a fine young one, w'nen a careless mo- 

 tion caused us to crush some bees. 

 Then the Italian bees showed us what 

 thev could do to defend their home 

 against careless intruders. I retreated 

 under a grapevine and hurriedly put on 

 mv veil. But my host stood his ground, 

 barefaced, and finally brought the bees 

 to time so that I could continue the 

 investigation and open another hive. 



Mr. Biaggi rears some queens by our 

 methods, taking the queen-cells from 

 strong colonies under the swarming 

 impulse. But most of the queens he 

 sells are simply taken from box-hive 

 colonies or straw skeps. He holds 

 that ihe Italian bees are immune to 

 foul brood, and that it is owing to 



their rusticity. He compares the bees 

 to human beings, and says that the 

 peasants of the mountains are more 

 rugged and healthier than the pam- 

 pered gentlemen of the higher civiliza- 

 tion. We had quite a little discussion 

 over the matter, for I held for artificial 

 selection as a chance for further im- 

 provement. He held that the Italian 

 bees of those mountainous regions, 

 where the snowis neighbor to thevine- 

 clad hills and to the olive growing 

 plains, are thereby more rugged and 

 stronger than anywhere else. Let the 

 reader decide. One thing is sure, 

 Biaggi's bees can take care of them- 

 selves. Their behavior on the combs 

 is exactly what we are used to, in the 

 pure bees, quick and steady, and they 

 adhere to them magnificently. 



When we took our leave we were 

 presented with a magnificent portrait 

 of Dzierzon. bearing his own auto- 

 graph ; a picture about 18x24. If I can 

 bring it home safely, I propose to have 

 it framed for my study. 



CROSSING TO ITALY. 



That afternoon we traveled the whole 

 length of Lake Maggiore, on a steam- 

 boat with English, American, French, 

 Italian, and even Australian tourists. 

 Shall I speak of its beauty ? Must I 

 mention the Borromean Islands, the 

 Isola Bella ." Those are said to be the 

 most beautiful islands on earth. But 

 we had only a glimpse of them. How 

 can a tourist visit much country and 

 get more than a glimpse of each thing 

 of beauty ? 



At (i p.m. we gradually left the moun- 

 tains for the plains of Lombardy. At 

 8 p.m.. after a rush among fields, manu- 

 facturing towns, etc.. we found our- 

 selves in the immense railroad station 

 of Milan. This city of 090,000 people 

 is one of the white, clean cities of the 

 world. .\s we entered the "bus'' of 

 the Hotel Moderne, an old gentleman 

 jumped up from his seat on the inside 

 and exclaimed, " Mr. Dadant, you are 

 punctual'." It was Count Visconti. the 

 president of the National Italian .Asso- 

 ciation, who had kindly volunteered 

 to meet us. But we did not e.xpect 

 him, and it was quite a surprise. 



With true Italian impetuosity, he said 

 to us : " Tomorrow you are to be not 

 only our guests but our slaves. We are 

 going to look after you. and you must do 

 what we say except ^ladam. how- 

 ever (bowing to my wife), who may 

 command us in whatever she wishes. 

 The next day Madam is invited to 

 breakfast with my daughter, and (smil- 

 ing) she may bring her husband with 

 her if she desires." 



So here we are. Count \'isconti Di 

 Saliceto and Dr. Triaca, the president 

 and vice-president of the Italian asso- 

 ciation, are to act as our cicerones, 

 and those only who are acquainted 

 with Italian hospitality can appreciate 

 our good luck. That is why 1 got up 

 this morning at -j o'clock to tell you 

 about what is in sfore for us. 



THE BEEWARE BRAND 



MEANS SUCCESS 



INSURANCE 



Send for Annual Cntnlop^ w^hich «ill tell 

 you « ho is jour nearest Distributer. 

 (;. B. Lewis Conipan>. M ntertown. Wis, 



