10 



THE AMERICAN A PIC UL TURIS T. 



goodly number of his large hives, 

 constructed with movable bottom 

 boards, and externally clothed 

 "with straw ; there were spread 

 about also man}' small hives or nu- 

 clei, likewise with movable bottom 

 boards, holding 4X5 frames all 

 covered with bees, each with its 

 queen already fecundated. 



Opening one of these large hives 

 is found a diaphragm which serves 

 in summer to change the capacity 

 at will, and which is replaced in 

 winter by another, thicker, made 

 of straw and slats of wood which 

 helps to keep the colony warm. 

 Mr. Mona calls this diaphragm a 

 " restrictor " (in America a division 

 board) which word he thinks better 

 designates a movable partition. 



The frames of the nuclei are 

 half the size of those in the large 

 hives. By cutting a large frame, 

 and its comb in halves he can at all 

 times take brood from a large hive 

 to a nucleus. 



Mr. Mona thinks that queens 

 prefer deep frames in which they 

 can extend the egg-laying without 

 interruption. Sometimes he fast- 

 ens two of the small frames into 

 one large frame which when filled 

 with brood or honey are detached, 

 and put into nuclei. He almost 

 always gives to the nuclei ripe 

 r03'al cells, but sometimes also vir- 

 gin queens if the}' are just hatched, 

 or even queens already fecundated. 



A very intelligent young man, 

 Ernest Ruffy of Vaud, assists him 

 in his work, and the professor 

 shares with him a portion of the 

 profits, on account of his great apti- 

 tude and cleverness in the business. 



Just as we arrived, Mr. Ruffy 

 was engaged inclosing up a nucleus 

 to go to Paris, containing a beauti- 

 ful queen with three pounds of bees, 

 ajid had still another to prepare for 

 the same destination. 



We passed the evening together 

 to a very advanced hour, and I do 

 not need to tell with what pleasure 

 and profit to myself. I am indebted 

 to the profound wisdom of the pro- 

 fessor, and to his enlightened ex- 

 perience, as also to his amiability 

 for many useful and practical hints 

 for which I take this opportunity 

 to express my deep gratitude. 



One wish of the professor would 

 be to establish in some good honey 

 locality in Lombardy an apiary of 

 200 to 300 colonies which would be 

 transported, when the honey flow is 

 past in the plain, to the mountains 

 of Lake Maggiore in order to profit 

 by the flowering of the walnut 

 trees, buckwheat and heather. 



While doing this he would like to 

 give free lectures on beekeeping 

 and thus demonstrate in a practical 

 manner how well apiculture can be 

 made to pay with hives of movable 

 frames and movable bottom boards. 



Earl}' next morning I left Locarno 

 by rail, and stopped at Gordola. 

 At a short distance from the station 

 stand two of the apiaries of Mr. 

 Jean Pometta, a clever and ingen- 

 ious mountaineer who, after having 

 passed several years of his life in 

 South America, lately went off to 

 Chicago carrying with him 240 

 Italian queens. He saw there all 

 that could be learned of American 

 methods, procured several of the 

 most perfect machines, and came 



