Nov. 22, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



745 



of the Langstroth hive, vpith large Quiiiby frames, and is 

 known over there as the Dadant hive. In Switzerland this 

 hive is almost exclusively used, so I found our name very 

 familiar to every bee-keeper whom I met, and in two or 

 three instances I found myself literally hufrffed with the 

 greatest enthusiasm at the simple mention of my name, by 

 people who had never seen me before. 



One of these apiaries I found on the shores of the Lake 

 of Sarnen, a small body of water just beyond the Brunig 

 pass, and which deserves more than a passing notice, owing 

 to the crystalline appearance of its surface. Its waters are 

 very clear, and as it lies between two very steep hills, there 

 is but little breeze to mar its smoothness, and every hill, 

 every tree, every house, was mirrored to perfection when 

 we saw it. It ought to be called " Mirror Lake." 



This lake, we were told, was lowered 100 feet by arti- 

 ficial means, to increase the area of .tillable land. It ap- 

 pears that it was originally formed by the tumbling of a 

 portion of a hill — probably thru an avalanche — across the 

 valley. The wall thus formed, not being of very great 

 width, it was found possible to bore thru and lower the 

 depth of the lake, the land so reclaimed being of great 

 utilitj' as pasture and meadows. In these thicklv settled 

 countries they do not waste land surface as we do here. The 

 railroad embankments are kept in grass, no matter how 

 steep they be, and this is carefully mowed and stowed away 

 twice in the season, and in many places we saw vegetable 

 gardening, cabbages, potatoes, etc., clear up to the edge of 

 the railroad ballast, along the track. I imagine that if 

 those people saw our prairie public roads, four rods wide, 

 with the little beaten track in the middle, and a strip of 

 weeds on both sides, thev would wonder at our wastefulness. 



That same day we ascended the far-famed Rigi, the 

 fashionable mountain from which you command a view of 

 300 miles in circumference, providing it is not cloudy ; but 

 as clouds always form around those mountains, a clear sky 

 is an exception. Here I had the pleasure of seeing a cloud 

 form under our feet, from an almost invisible Httle smoky 

 spot, to a mist that covered everything below us. I do not 

 know whether many are like myself, but I had never 

 thought of enquiring as to the formation of clouds. While 

 the passing of clouds over my head was a matter of daily 

 notice, it had always seemed to me that they must come 

 from somewhere else, for I could not imagine how they 

 should form. But here was the thing in practice, in plain 

 view ; a clear sky, a half dozen beautiful lakes below, with 

 villages, orchards, roads, all so straight below us that it 

 seemed as if we could throw a pebble on the roofs of the 

 houses, then in a few seconds two currents of air coming in 

 contact from different directions, one cold, the other hot 

 and moist, a sudden whirl and the condensation of invisible 

 to visible moisture is instantaneous; the beautiful view is 

 hidden under an opaque cloud. But in another minute the 

 cloud blows away, the sun again shines, to be hidden again 

 in the same manner a little later. 



I enjoyed the ascent of the Rigi, but after an afternoon 

 and a night there I was still gladder to leave it. It would 

 not suit me to live above the clouds. We staid over night 

 to see the sun rise, and were awakened at break of day by 

 the Alpine horn. We hurried from the big, cold, moldy- 

 smelling hotel to the top of the peak with the hundreds of 

 tourists, in the raw morning air ; we admired the numerous 

 snow-capt peaks that glistened in the south like the waves 

 of the sea, but were glad to get back to the warmth of an 

 August forenoon by the first train we could take for 

 Lucerne, and it was with pleasure that we saw our car 

 slowly descend from those dizzy heights to the level of the 

 cities below. Better live 600 than 6,000 feet above sea-level. 



Back to Geneva we returned the following day. Up 

 hills down ravines and thru tunnels, these Swiss rail- 

 roads never seem to be on a level ; but the sights are always 

 interesting, and not the least is the view when just out of 

 the last tunnel coming back to the beautiful lake of Geneva. 

 The sudden change from the steep meadows, abrupt hills 

 and pine forests to the splendid vine-clad slopes and the 

 busy shores of that wonderful lake, is striking. 



That same evening we landed at Nyon, where the 

 pleasant face of Mr. Bertrand, the editor of the Revue In- 

 ternationale, was readily recognized by us at the station. 

 He had a carriage in waiting, and inside of a half hour we 

 were literally " at home," enjoying a chat with him and 

 his devoted wife. 



Mr. Bertrand's health has been quite poor for a number 

 of years, and it was a happy surprise to find him quite a 

 younger looking man than his last picture had led us to be- 

 lieve, and as active as any man of his years, for, if I re- 

 member rightly, he is 65 or 66 years old. 



Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTED BY 



r>R. O. O. MIT^T^EIt. Afareng-o, 171. 



(The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor.1 



Out-Apiaries Draper Barns— Plain Sections. 



1. How do you run your out-apiary for comb honey ? 

 Do you hire experienced help ? 



2. What salary should a young man be paid who has 

 some knowledge of bee-keeping '.' 



3. How did bees in your Draper barns do the past 

 summer ? 



4. What about the plain sections ? I don't like them 

 because they are so light in weight, and on account of the 

 bur-combs on the fences. Hurrah for the old-style sections '. 

 Long may they stay on the market. Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. Just the same as the home apiary. Two 

 of us go to the out-apiaries as regularly as we can, and do 

 the same work we do in the home apiary. We can hardly 

 be said to have an establisht plan, and are all the time on 

 the lookout for something better. If you strike on some- 

 thing good, by all means let us have it. 



2. So many things must be taken into account, and cir- 

 cumstances vary so much that it would be impossible to 

 give an answer to fit all cases. " Some knowledge of bee- 

 keeping " might be so little that a young man might not 

 earn his board with an experienced bee-keeper : and it might 

 be so much that he could earn $50 or more per month taking 

 care of an apiary whose owner had no knowledge of bees. 



3. They didn't average any better than others. 



4. It seems hard to get the plain sections settled down 

 to any uniform basis. As at the first, some like them very 

 much, while others will have none of them. 



How to Transfer Bees. 



This fall I got one colony of bees in a lime-barrel. I 

 would like to know the best way to transfer them to a frame 

 hive. Iowa. 



Answer. — Transferring from a lime-barrel does not 

 differ materially from transferring from a box-hive, and 

 so you will be all right to follow the instructions in your 

 text-book for transferring from box-hives. Very likely, 

 however, you may prefer a plan which is growing in favor, 

 and that is to watt till the colony swarms before any trans- 

 ferring is done. If the colony is in a whole barrel, it is not 

 likely that the whole barrel is filled with comb, and you will 

 do well in the spring to saw off the lower end of the barrel 

 which is empty. If you should saw off so much that it 

 would take off some of the lower edges of the combs it will 

 do no harm. If you leave the whole of the barrel, the bees 

 might swarm quite late, if at all. When the colony swarms, 

 hive the swarm in a frame hive, and set the new hive on 

 the old stand, setting the barrel close beside it. A week 

 later remove the barrel to an entirely new place. Two 

 weeks later still— that is, three weeks after the time of 

 swarming — drive out what bees remain in the barrel, unit- 

 ing them with the swarm, and then you can melt up the 

 old combs, which will be bare of worker brood, unless you 

 prefer to fasten some of the straight worker-brood in 

 frames. If, however, you prefer increase to honey, you may 

 proceed in a different way. When the colony swarms, leave 

 the barrel on the old stand, and put in a new place the hive 

 with the swarm. If an after-swarm issues from the barrel, 

 you can hive that, if you care to have weak colonies, but 

 the better way is to return the after-swarm as often as it 

 issues. Then three weeks after the time of the first swarm, 

 transfer the contents of the barrel into a frame hive. 



The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just 

 what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits 

 and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year. 

 We can mail you a free sample copy of it. if you ask for it. 

 We club it with the AmericaTi Bee Journal — both for SI. 10. 



