1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



215 



For Gleanings in Bee Culture. 

 ACROSS THE GREAT SALT BItOOK. 



No 1. 



FRANK BENTON S TRIP TO THE ISLE OF CYPRUS. 



^J-SAITH thoughts turned to the far East, a little 

 party of three went on board the staunch 

 steamship Italy, to sail on the 21st of Janu- 

 ary for London, intending to proceed thence across 

 the continent of Europe and up the Mediterranean 

 Sea to the Isle of Cyprus, of which nearly every bee- 

 keeper in America has been reading of late. The 

 terrors of the deep were to be faced, and thousands 

 of weary miles to be traversed, in order to obtain 

 the little insects which, found only on the island 

 mentioned above, have received the name Cyprian 

 Bees. It was friend King, of the Bee-Keeper's Mag- 

 azine, who shook us by the hand after having enter- 

 tained us very pleasantly at his house the night 

 before, and who wished us a pleasant and prosper- 

 ous journey. Day after day our good ship plunged 

 forward against the surging Atlantic billows, and, 

 at last, through the fog and storms, brought us, on 

 the :>th of February, to that wonderful city, London, 

 the world's capital. 



It was gratifying to observe that the tribute which 

 the stern old sea-god, Neptune, had exacted from 

 friend D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Canada, had left him 

 none the less hearty looking, and none the less jolly; 

 and when he shook the hand of Mr. Alfred Neighbor, 

 of the firm of Geo. Neighbor & Sons, it was easy to 

 see that he was as thoroughly a u bee-ist" as ever, 

 and, quite like his companiou, "Bent-on" seeing and 

 learning all that our good brothers in Europe could 

 present in the bee line. 



In the bee-emporium of Mr. Neighbor, we found 

 all the appliances of a well regulated apiary, and 

 among his stock of hives, extractors, etc., articles 

 adapted to almost any style of bee-keeping may be 

 found. Mr. Neighbor's Cottage bee-hive, in the 

 hands of the peasant bee - keepers, will produce 

 much better results than could be obtained by the 

 old-fashioned straw hive. It is constructed of close- 

 ly twisted straw wound spirally upward, and has an 

 opening in the top, over which a case of sections or 

 honey-boxes may be placed to secure comb honey. 

 The whole is surmounted by a well painted, wood- 

 en or metal cap, which serves to shed the water as 

 well as keep off the direct rays of the sun. Bees in 

 these hives would certainly winter well, especially 

 in the mild climate of England. The Collateral hive 

 is a form of the movable-comb hive, which Mr. 

 Neighbor designs to be used as a side-storing hive, 

 whenever so desired, frames containing sections be- 

 ing- hung just outside the division -boards which in- 

 close the brood-nest. This hive is also well adapted 

 to wintering in the open air —the plan very gener- 

 ally pursued in England — as the combs anddivisiou- 

 boards are so arranged as to enable the bee-keeper 

 to place the former parallel to the entrance, and 

 pack with chaff on all Bides. In the way of extrac- 

 tors, we could not but feel that some of the more 

 modern American styles would give greater satis- 

 faction; indeed that has been the observation wher- 

 ever we have been. Mr. Neighbor's intelligent talk 

 about bees, and his lively interest iu our undertak- 

 ing served as a very agreeable change from the 

 monotony and confinement of life on shipboard. 

 •Of '-onree, we could not tbiuk of leaving London 



without first making a visit to Fairlawn, the home 

 and bee-establishment of that worthy British bee- 

 keeper, Mr. C. N. Abbott, the editor and publisher of 

 the British Bee Journal. So one morning we found 

 ourselves seated in one of the cars of the under- 

 ground railway company, and, after a few minutes* 

 whirl through the dark tubes leading under the 

 great city, we were landed at the desired railway 

 station, in the northwest part of the city. Then a 

 pleasant ride of about ten miles brought us to Tout- 

 hall, London, and shortly after we received from 

 Mr. Abbott himself, who had been previously noti- 

 fied of our coming, a very hearty welcome. The 

 hours in his apiary, shop, sanctum, and at the din- 

 ner-table, Hew past only too quickly. It is very easy 

 to discern that friend Abbott is a thorough-going 

 bee-keeper, and we found much of interest at his 

 place. His 130 colonies of bees are most of them in 

 movable -comb hives, the frames being about the 

 same size as the frame proposed in Gleanings some 

 3 - ears ago as a standard frame. Mr. Abbott's efforts 

 are largely turned toward the fitting out of full col- 

 onies of bees in such movable-comb hives as can 

 easily be handled by the farmer bee-keepers; and, 

 in this manner, as well as through the columns of 

 his excellent journal, The British Bee Journal, ho 

 is doing much to raise the standard of bee-culture in 

 Great Britain. 



It is gratifying to see the interest manifested by 

 our British brethren in regard to new races of bees. 

 They are discussing the qualities of these races and, 

 now, some of them are to have Cyprian bees which 

 we bring with us. Friend Abbott has promised per- 

 sonal assistance in flying and, if necessary, repack- 

 ing our queens when they arrive in England, so they 

 will stand the long voyage over the ocean. 



Time will not permit additional remarks at pres- 

 ent, any more than the mere statement that we 

 have visited a large number of the prominent apia- 

 rists on the continent, Gravenhorst, Cori, Count 

 Kolowrat, Gatter, Schroeder, and others, and every 

 one is thoroughly convinced of the gnat superiority of 

 the Cyprians over all other races, especially in the 

 matter of wintering and honey - gathering, and, 

 when pure in blood, they are no crosser than Ital- 

 ians, while many claim they are more gentle. 



Trieste, Austria, Feb. 27, '80. Frank Benton. 



Many thanks, friend B. As I was much 

 interested in the following note, which ac- 

 companied the article above, I suppose our 

 readers will be also, and so I take the liberty 

 to give them all we know of you. Please 

 give all those friends a hearty hand-shake 

 for us, and tell them we often remember the 

 brothers away across the seas. 



Friend Roof:— Since landing in London, we have 

 been on the go most of the time, so that it has been 

 quite impossible to write much. At the last 

 moment, I have dashed off a few pages. 



We sail for Alexandria, Egypt, at noon to-day, on 

 the Urano, of the Austrian Lloyd St. Company's line. 



Mr. Jones sends kind regards. Accept same for 

 all from me.— F. B. 



It sounds almost like a dream to hear you 

 speak of "Alexandria, Egypt." Don't you 

 have to "pinch yourself" sometimes, to see 

 if it is really you or not? May God bless 

 and watch over you and brother Jones, and 

 all the kind bee friends you meet in your 

 travels. 



