696 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bee-keepers' school of Pastor Weygandt. 

 Notwithstanding all these extraordi- 

 nary exertions, the elevation of apicul- 

 ture in Germany proceeds only slowly. 

 Indeed, it has even gone backwards in 

 the last 20 years, but is now on the in- 

 crease, especially the method with mov- 

 able combs. In the year 1883 the num- 

 ber of colonies of bees was 1,911,797, 

 so that there were 3.5 hives per square 

 kilometer, and for every 100 inhabi- 

 tants 4.2 hives. Of these 19.3 per cent, 

 were movable-comb hives. According 

 the last census, in 1892, there were 

 2,034,479 colonies, that is, 3.8 hives 

 per square kilometer, or for each 100 

 inhabitants 4.1 hives, 31.3 per cent, of 

 which were movable-comb hives. Un- 

 fortunately, no exact figures concerning 

 the honey-yield of these colonies are at 

 my command, but it may be fairly esti- 

 mated that in what are called good 

 honey years, the honey harvest reaches 

 82,000,000 pounds, and the wax har- 

 vest 1,000,000 pounds. 



It should be noted here that in Ger- 

 many little comb honey is produced, 

 there being for the greater part no mar- 

 ket for it. From the hives with fixed 

 combs the best honey that is obtained is 

 what is called " run honey," and it ap- 

 proaches extracted honey very nearly 

 in quality. The crushed combs are 

 placed in a seive or a trough, and the 

 honey permitted to run off. What re- 

 mains is gently heated and strained. 

 Extracted honey and run honey are sold 

 on the average for 25 cents per pound, 

 the strained honey 12 to 13 cents per 

 pound. Comb honey and extracted are 

 the same in price. The honey is gath- 

 ered chiefly from fruit-bloom, rape, 

 esparcette, acacia or honey-locust, lin- 

 den, corn flower, buckwheat and heather. 

 So far as the hives are concerned in 

 which bees are kept in Germany,! the 

 bell-shaped straw hives are most widely 

 used, the few log or box hives, or other 

 hives with immovable combs are not 

 worth consideration. The confusion in 

 the construction of hives with movable 

 combs is infinitely greater in Germany 

 than in America. The great majority 

 of these hives are built cupboard-like, 

 with several stories one above another, 

 which open at the sides where the gables 

 are placed, or from the back end. The 

 frames in these hives, quite in contrast 

 to those in American hives, are placed 

 with the longer dimension perpendicu- 

 lar. The full-sized German standard 

 frame does not differ greatly as regards 

 its contents from the Langstroth frame. 

 American hives have been but little in- 

 troduced, or not at all here. Among the 



German hives most preferred are the 

 Dzierzon twin hive the Berlepsch hive, 

 the four-story upright hives, the Dathe 

 hive, the Albert leaf hive, and the hive 

 which I use, the Bogenstueiper. 



Whether, notwithstanding the great 

 exertions which are constantly being 

 made for the elevation and spread of 

 apiculture in Germany, it will ever be 

 brought up to the point it reached in the 

 13th, 14th and 15th centuries of our 

 era, is still a great question. The many 

 flowers growing wild in those times have 

 disappeared because of improved meth- 

 ods in the management of meadows, 

 forests and fields. But in return many 

 other honey-producing plants have be- 

 come naturalized with us, so that the 

 lack has been made good again. We 

 Germans entertain the hope that con- 

 stant progress will mark the course of 

 apiculture, and this so much the more 

 since we can profit by the valuable in- 

 vestigations of bee-keepers in other 

 lands, and not the least among these are 

 to be counted those of our brother bee- 

 keepers in America, who so nobly stand 

 far in the lead in progressive apiculture. 

 God grant it. With this sincere wish, 

 and with hearty greetings from Ger- 

 many, I present to the honorable body 

 of North American bee-keepers, my pro- 

 found respects as one of your honorary 

 members. C. J. H. Gravenhobst. 



Pres. Abbott — Mr. Gravenhorst's essay 

 is now before you for discussion. 



Mr. Richardson — Do I understand that 

 the use of the movable-comb hives in 

 Germany is on the decrease ? 



Mr. Benton — No. On the contrary, 

 they are using movable-comb hives more 

 extensively. In 1888 the percentage 

 being 19 3/10, or about 1/5, and in 

 1892 the percentage was 31 3/10, or 

 almost 3^. 



Mr. Benton — As a member of this 

 society, I wish to move that a vote of 

 thanks be extended to Mr. Gravenhorst 

 for his valuable essay. Seconded and 

 carried unanimously. 



Dr. Miller here moved that a commit- 

 tee be appointed to whom should be re- 

 ferred all of the foreign essays, and that 

 the committee report to this Association 

 any points in them which they think 

 proper for discussion, without having 

 them read before the Association. 



Pres. Abbott— I feel as if I ought to 

 make the first speech on that subject. I 

 asked for these essays myself, and I ex- 

 pected they — every one of them — would 

 be of great interest to this Association, 



