gLeAnINGS ti^ BEE (JUtttlM. 



At a. 



are of impoi-tance. Cactus-plants supplement these; 

 in fact, in many localities they form the chief early 

 honey-yield. The late harvest comes in midsum- 

 mer from wild thyme, which is abundant in most of 

 the hilly and mountainous portions of the country. 

 Of course, there are also many minor sources,— wild 

 tlowers, etc. It was agreed, that where orange, cac- 

 tus, and thyme blossoms were abundant, with the 

 usual minor yields, nothing would be gained by 

 transporting bees to other pastures. 



The wintering problem didn't get much attention, 

 since there is no difficulty on that score here; nor 

 did we devote very much time to a discussion of the 

 relative merits of the different races of bees, as 

 none but Syrians are kept in Syria. The writer, 

 however, and a member formerly in his employ in 

 Cyprus, testified to the superiorty of the Cyprians 

 over the Syrians. No other members had had any 

 experience with Cyprians. 



Altogether, a bee-convention in Syria may be con- 

 sidered an interesting and important event — inter- 

 esting to the outside world as showing the progress 

 already made, and that America has been taken as 

 the model; important to the country itself, both be- 

 cause it is likelj- to spread greater interest in an in- 

 dustry which can be made to contribute much more 

 than heretofore to the welfare of Syria, and be- 

 cause the pi'oceedings are likely to induce a more 

 systematic development of the industry in the East. 



The convention adjourned to a photographer's, 

 and the migratory shadows were committed to pa- 

 per. As far as means will permit, copies of the 

 same will be sent to the bee-journals. 



Friend Root, of Gi.E.^NiNfiS, will surely take kind- 

 ly to our President, who appears in the center of the 

 group with his hand resting on tlie A IJ C book. 

 French bee-keepers will not be ashamed of their 

 countryman, Mr. Philip Baldensperger, whose large 

 honey-yields in Palestine have attracted attention, 

 but which have unfortunately been attributed to 

 German methods and even to German beekeepers, 

 by parties who knew better.* Messrs. Dennler & 

 Zwilling, of Alsace-Lorraine, will recognize in his 

 hand a copy of their journal. It so happens that 

 this disciple of American bee culture is flanked by 

 Americans; for your humble servant, to whom the 

 penning of these chronicles seems by common con- 

 sent to have been left, stands at his other hand. 

 The little block of wood with three holes in it, and 

 the reversible frame with no attachments or pro- 

 jecting corners, will be recogiu'zed by some, any 

 way. A man of Italian origin stands at my left. 

 He has never owned any bees, but was in my em- 

 ploy some time; in fact, I might say he has been my 

 left-hand mmi for two or three years past. Still fur- 

 ther to the left, a Syrian schoolmaster, owner of 

 ten hives, holds in his hand a copy of the Britii<h Bi:c 

 Jnui-nal; yet though he knows English and French, 

 he is not a subscriber to nor a reader of any bee- 

 journal, nor has he ever owned or read a book on 

 bees. Perhaps this Syrian friend prefers the name 

 and not the Oiing. In front of him is a Syrian mer- 

 chant — a former landlord of mine. The good-look- 

 ing full-bearded man who stands at the left in the 

 picture represents the sturdy German race, and 

 says he is "strongly interested in bees." Ne.\t to 

 him is a peasant friend with his daughter. The lat- 



* See Howard's and Alley's reports in Gleanings 

 and the A. B. J. ; also see editorial notes in the Bic- 

 nen-Zucchtcr of Alsace-Lorraine.— F. B. 



ter, who holds an earthen jar such as the peasants 

 employ as hives, has had much to do with recent 

 work in bee cnltui'e here; for on a tray placed on 

 her head she has brought down from distant vil- 

 lages of Mt. Lebanon, in twos, nniny of the stocks 

 of bees that have furnished the gueens for custom- 

 ers in far-off Europe and America. The juveniles 

 are represented b.\ two rising bee-keepers, one of 

 whom has evidently adopted the smoker, while the 

 other has " sat down " on the native cylinder hive. 



Our eyes are turned toward America for light in 

 bee-keeping mattere; and if the world hears of 

 large reports from these shores of the Mediterrane- 

 an, the credit of thein will, it is to be htiped, go 

 where it belongs. Fka.nk IJknton. 



Mt. Lebanon Apiary, 



Ueyrout, Syria, May, 1885. 



Friend Benton, we are exceedingly obliged 

 to yon for yonr picture, and the very graphic 

 descriptioii yon liave given of it. " We are 

 very glad indeed to be able to look npon the 

 countenances of our far-away friends and 

 comrades : and witli wliat alacrity would we 

 extend the liand of fellowship, had we the 

 oi)portunity of niixiiig in witli your little 

 group I Piease tender tliem all our kindest 

 wishes, and tell them that it will afford ns 

 the utmost pleasuie to assist them in any 

 way in getting the ■•hang"" of modern bee 

 culture, as it is now jiracticeil here in Amer- 

 ica. Jiut. look "e here, old friend, I do not 

 know whether we had l>etter claim to be in 

 advance of yon away olT there in Syria or 

 not, while yon hold that reversible frame in 

 yoiu- liand— that frame " without any cor- 

 iiers or projections, "" as you express it. You 

 know I s;iid in an editiirial a year or more 

 ago. that the tht)ught of such a frame kejit 

 haunting me. When I was lialf asleep at 

 night, some phantom would hold it out to 

 me, and I woidd jump and grasp for it ; but 

 when I got it. and began to think it over, I 

 could not discover any practical way of us- 

 ing it, without hitching something on to the 

 corners, like our reversing wires for instance. 

 T suppose you mean tliat the frame that you 

 hold belongs in that hive in front of you, 

 where we see the vacant place. ^"ow,'will 

 you be ,so kind as to tell ns what holds it in 

 place after you put it in V What keeps it 

 from pushing over against its neigiibors, or 

 from mashing bees against the end of the 

 hive, and at the same time gives a lateral 

 movement endwise and sidewise, that we 

 have almost all decided we must have, from 

 good old father Langstroth down V If you 

 liave something that yon can work witli in 

 that way, please out witli it, and don't keep 

 us in suspense.— Are you not a little severe 

 on our friends Howard and Alley ? I have 

 not looked up the reference, but I feel quite 

 sure that our good friend Howard, who 

 made us a call about a year ago, did not 

 mean to misrepresent in any way. It is 

 true, that the Palestine queens that he 

 brought us have not turned out very well, 

 for we have only one of them left, and that 

 one iiroduces such small cross bees, and not 

 extra honey-gatherers either, that we do not 

 dare offer iov sale any queens reared from 

 her ; but for all that, I ani sure that friend 

 Howard supposed he was doing us a favor 

 when be brought us the queens. 



