THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



227 



are rejuvenated nearly every year 

 and if it has stood for twenty-five 

 years it is not an old colony, as nearly 

 every year new " Untensatze "^ are 

 built full and the previous year's 

 combs are taken off thro-gh the 

 upper stories. The combs do not 

 become blackened, the cells do not 

 contract as in old skeps, as every 

 young bee leaves her pupa garb be- 

 hind her and the cell is valueless for 

 the full maturity of the brood. The 

 reason is that a skep which has been 

 in use five or six years without chang- 

 ing combs is of little value and the 

 bees will seldom swarm. 



It is on account of this also that 

 with the hive there becomes no old 

 colony ; but clean, nicest and best of 

 honey is produced. On the contrary, 

 that cut out of old skeps, or procured 

 by smothering bees, is soiled by brood, 

 dead bees, sulphur fumes, etc. And 

 what is an advantage above all others 

 in the hive is that one in the latter 

 always has bees, which can be taken 

 care of pleasantly and without great 

 fatigue. 



THE SPECIAL ADVANTAGES OF WOODEN 

 HIVES WITH GLASSES. 



As it has for some time been pro- 

 ven by experiment that beekeeping 

 in hives is the best and most profit- 

 able according to my actual test, my 

 previously described hive, made out 

 of boards and the top story furnished 

 with a pane of glass, is the best and 

 has distinct advantages over the 

 hive made of straw. I will not speak 

 of the ornamentality and general 

 appearance which are given to a 

 bee stand- or garden by a num- 



1 Literally, tilings placed beneath. 



2 Apiary would be a better term. 



ber of wooden hives having a sym- 

 metrical appearance, which is no 

 matter of indifference to a person of 

 taste and a lover of bees ; but how 

 profitable and easy and at the same 

 time how pleasant does that insignif- 

 icant glass, which only costs a kreutzer 

 (half-penny), make the handling and 

 tending of the bees ! 



I can not only amuse myself at 

 their internal work and observe them 

 summer and winter, but sometimes 

 have the good fortune, especially in 

 May and June, to see the queen with 

 her body guard and watch her deposit 

 eggs, etc. ; while, on the contrary, in 

 the straw skep, I can observe nothing 

 but their outer industry and their 

 flight. But I have a visible proof, of 

 their inner economy which is very 

 profitable and necessary to the bees. 

 I see how much honey they have, 

 how much brood, how much they 

 have built and this is (as can be seen 

 from what follows, in harvesting 

 honey, in dividing or swarming, by 

 adding stories and other operations) 

 of the utmost importance, in remov- 

 ing stories filled with honey. I can 

 see how much I can take from these 

 stories without taking too much from 

 the bees and leave them enough for 

 winter. 



I can calculate how many feet 

 or pounds of honey, how much 

 wax every colony has, yes, how much 

 fifty colonies have ; as every story 

 has equal dimensions and the pattern 

 shows me that such a story when 

 empty will contain four measures, 

 when filled it will contain two meas- 

 ures of honey and "i^ quarter lbs." 

 of wax. With straw hives, where I 

 know nothing definite, I must take 



