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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Death of the Baron Von Berlepsch. 



A great man lias passed away! Our read- 

 ers will learn with regret that the Baron 

 Von Berlepsch, the great German apiarist, 

 is no more! His memory will be embalmed 

 in the hearts of thousands, all over the 

 world, as one of the kindest, as well as one 

 of the greatest men of the present age. 



BAEON VON BERLEPSCH. 



The following letter from Austria'tells its 

 own sad story : 



Praglte, Austria, Oct. 16, 1877. 



Thomas G. Newman: Dear Sir,—1 am 

 bearer of afflicting intelligence. Our great 

 bee-master, the Barou Von Berlepsch died 

 at Munich, on Sept. 17, 1877, aged 62 years, 

 after a serious illness of 9 years. If L)zier- 

 zon is the inventor of movable combs, Ber- 

 lepsch is the true founder. His name will 

 be honored as long as bee-keeping exists as 

 a science, and wherever bees are cultivated. 

 While the deceased had no enemies, his 

 friends extended throughout the world. 



In my next I will give you a report of the 

 German Apiarian Congress. 

 Very truly yours, 



R. Mayerhoffer, 



Editor of '-Bienenvater aits Bohmen.'" 



The following is the verbatim "official 

 notice" of his death: 



"Lima Baronne de Berlepsch gives afflict- 

 ing notice, in her name and in the name of 

 her family, that her beloved husband, Sittig 

 Eugen August Ilinrich Gottlob Fredlierr 

 Von Berlepsch, honorary member and mas- 

 ter of the German Hoclisloft of Frankfort- 

 on-the-Main, honorary member of the Asso- 

 ciation for the increasing of apiculture in 

 Bohemia, and various other bee-keepers' 

 associations in different countries, 62 years 

 of age, after a maiming of '.) years, to-day at 

 3:30 a.m.— deceased. Munich, Sep. 17, 1877." 



Our friend, C. P. Dadant, furnishes the 

 following sketch of his life and labors in 

 connection with his favorite study— the bee: 



He was born on the 38th of June, 1S15, in 

 Langensalzo, Thuringen. In his biograpliy, 



published in "The Bee and its Culture with 

 Movable-Frames," he narrates that In his 

 childliood he was fond of bees, and often rart 

 from home to the apiarj^ of a neighbor of his 

 father. On his 7ih birthday, liis father pre- 

 sented him with a colony of bees. Since that 

 time he has owned bees; and while studying 

 law at the University of Doring (who was an 

 enthusiast on bees) Mr. Berlepsch was per- 

 mitted to bring with him a few hives, which 

 were placed in the apiary of his professor. 



In all the cities where the young Baron was 

 sent to complete his studies, he took with him 

 some colonies of bees. When his father died' 

 in 1841, he was the owner of 100 colonies, and, 

 had read a great many books on bee-culture 

 and had conversed with some of the best bee- 

 keepers o( his country. 



When the German bee paper was published 

 he studied the theory of Dzierzon, and 6 or 7 

 years after, in 1853, he began to write articles 

 on bee-culture. In these first writings he was 

 opposed to Dzierzon's theory of the partheno- 

 genesis of the queen. But Von Siebold hav- 

 ing visited his apiary to experiment on the 

 eggs of workers and of drones, Berlepsch was 

 soon convinced and became an enthusiastic 

 supporter of the Dzierzon theory, which is no 

 longer doubted by scientific men. 



At tlie time when the master of American 

 bee-keepers, Langstroth, Invented the prac- 

 tical movable-frame hive, Berlepsch, on the 

 other side of the Atlantic, was making a 

 similar discovery. But his side-opening hive 

 (which is yet the most used in Germany, and 

 which had the honor of being selected as the- 

 standard by the Italian bee-keepers), is not 

 as easily managed as that of Langstroth. 



In 1860. he published the first edition of his- 

 work, which, although being one of the best 

 books published in Germany, was burdened 

 with controveries with Dzierzon; as is ac- 

 knowledged in the second edition, published 

 In 1868. Berlepsch had not the eminent acute- 

 ness and the surprising talent of Dzierzon, but 

 his wealth permitted him to procure most of 

 the books on bee -culture published in Ger- 

 many ; his leisure gave him time to read and 

 compile from them what he thought worthy 

 of note, and to have intricate and personal 

 experiments made. It is therefore no wonder 

 that it is one of the best and most complete 

 works on bee-culture ever published. It. 

 would be a benefit even to America, if some 

 of our German-born bee-keepers would take 

 the trouble to translate it ; if has been trans- 

 lated in Italy. 



Many of Berlepsch's teachings would proba- 

 bly be no longer up to the times; he has 

 held many incorrect theories, but his services 

 as a dift'iiser of knowledge in theoretical bee- 

 culture have been sufficient for his disciples 

 to rank him as second only to Dzierzon. 



In 1867, he sulTered from an attack of apo- 

 plexy which rendered him an invMlid for the 

 rest of his life ; and the second edition of his 

 work is the result of the valuable help of his 

 wife, the Baroness Lina Von Berlepsch. 



In tills issue will be found a Title 

 Page and copious Indexes for tlie Vol- 

 ume for 1877, which is now ended. Bjr 

 cutting tlie tliread these may be easily 

 taken out and placed in front of the 

 January numlier. and if not already 

 placed in Emerson's Binder, it is ready 

 for binding. These Indexes show 

 about 600 correspondents, and from 40O 

 to 500 subjects for the year 1877. 



1^ When an old subscriber wishes to 

 present a copy of the Bee Journal to 

 a friend for 1878, lie may remit $3.00- 

 for the two, if sent during December.. 



