880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



BECHSEL AND PRESIDENT KRAMER LOOKING AT A FINE QULEN. 



for testing honey, in 189L Here iioney is exam- 

 ined chemically and by taste. For the latier, 

 Kramer has hitherto been the expert He can 

 decide, by taste only, if you give him Swiss 

 honey, from which part of the country the honey 

 came from, and from which tiowers it was se- 

 cured. It is astonishing to see how reliable his 

 tongue is — a fact which I have often had occa- 

 sion to prove. 



In 1897 Kramer introduced a feature which 

 has been a gieat benefit to our honey-producers, 

 namely, the control of the honey of the 8. B. K. 

 A. Every affiliated association has from five to 

 seven men, composing a juiy. These are to 

 judge the honey as to its purity, ripeness, and 

 taste. A sample of any dubious honey has to be 

 sent to the central jury, of which Kramer was 

 chief till 1906; and only that honey which ans- 

 wers to all claims can obtain the marking, "Con- 

 trolled by the Swiss Bee-keepers" Association." 

 In consequence of this our honey has much im- 

 proved in purity and ripeness, and its reputation 

 lias been greatly enhanced. 



In 1897, 105 bee-keepers with 2843 hives ob- 

 tained 11,900 kilograms of honey. 



In 1898, 17 bee-keepers with 483 hives obtain- 

 ed 1565 kilograms. 



In 1899, 431 bee-keepers with 13,408 hives ob- 

 tained 143,849 kilograms. 



In 1905, 1505 bee-keepers with 35,717 hives 

 obtained 384,076 kilograms. 



Ill 1889 was published the first edition of Bie- 

 iieii'-ua'er, by Kranrer, Jeker, and Theiler — a book 

 of which the chief part was written by Kramer. 

 Since that time, six editions have been printed. 



Krnmer, having recognized the superiority of 

 our natise bees, in 1898 brought the aid of the 

 S. B. K. A. to the breeding of the black race. 

 He established mating-stations, remote places for 

 the fertilization of queens with pure-bred drones. 

 In the spring of 1899 he called together the "Ro- 

 senberg" in Zug, where we have our apicultural 

 museum, a number of able queen-breeders for the 

 first conference on "race breeding." He then 

 chose a number of the finest colonies (there were 

 but a few), and began the use of eggs from those 

 colonies for the breeding of queens. 



In 1898, three breeders sent 41 pieces of brood- 

 comb; result, 106 fertile queens. 



In 1899, three breeders sent 84 pieces of brood- 

 comb; result, 1158 fertile queens. 



In 1905, eleven breeders sent 149 pieces of 

 brood-comb; result, unknown. 



As chief of the race-breeding department, Kra- 

 mer also watched over the sale of race queens. 



In 1898, three breeders sold 55 fertile queens 

 maieJ at five mating-stations. 



