THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



69 



Bees have remained six weeks in 

 these boxes with only one purifying 

 flight wlien in London. 



The opening of the large cavity 

 (in the cage used by Ponietta) is 

 covered with a piece of wire gauze 

 nailed on. The whole is wrapped 

 in strong paper in which holes have 

 been made so that fresh air may 

 get in, then tied with string and 

 consigned to the post. 



P'or postage on such package 

 only three cents are paid in Ger- 

 many and also throughout Switz- 

 erland. When it is necessary to 

 move a colony a short distance, Mr. 

 Pometta employs with certainty 

 of success the American method, 

 which is to place apiece of woodin 

 front of the door. As the bees go 

 out they are forced to pass out by 

 the sides of the hives, and this 

 being new to them they take ob- 

 servations afresh and do not lose 

 themselves on their return. In the 

 afternoon, I took leave of Mr. Po- 

 metta pressing his hand warmly. 

 Descending the rocky pathway I re- 

 turned to Gordola whence the rail- 

 Ava}^ carried me in a few minutes to 

 Locarno. Next morning taking the 

 steamer I was slowly carried to 

 Porto Viltra Vaglia. 



The Tremontain brothers do not 

 reside at Porto but at Nasca in a 

 little village half an hour distant, 

 and high up in the mountains. 



Being known if not personally 

 by reputation, I was very gra- 

 ciously received by three of the 

 brothers ; the fourth Captain Do- 

 menico Tremontain, who gives his 

 whole time and attention to the 

 bees (although the others are equal- 

 ly accomplished breeders) was not 

 at home that day. 



The Tremontain establishment 

 used to be at Bologna, later on at 

 Cremona, and at last they moved 

 entirely to Nasca to a large prop- 

 erty that they own. Hearing queen 

 bees is carried on by them in much 

 the same manner as by Mona and 



Pometta with this difference, that 

 Tremontain procures in the au- 

 tumn many strong colonies from 

 the villagers, which they transfer in 

 the early spring to frame hives, 

 and from which they fill up their 

 nuclei. 



They send out their queens by 

 post in the cases already described ; 

 but these gentlemen give no water 

 as they are convinced by experi- 

 ence that the cooked sugar contains 

 enough moisture when it is only a 

 question of a few days. 



Having taken leave of my pleas- 

 ing hosts, I came down to Porto, 

 whence by boat and train I was 

 conveyed to Gallarate. 



Some days later I set out to visit 

 a fourth queen-breeder, and to 

 make the acquaintance of that fine 

 old gentleman Monsieur Celestino 

 Spinedi, of Mendrisio. He has about 

 sixty frame hives, but that does not 

 suffice for the trade with queens 

 that he keeps up in Switzerland 

 and Germany. He obtains at a 

 low price a great number of colo- 

 nies condemned by the peasants to 

 suftbcation. This year by reason 

 of the drought his honey crop has 

 been very meagre, although suffi- 

 cient for the maintenance of his col- 

 onies, which after all was enough 

 for him as honey is not his object. 



In a large garden that belongs 

 to him near the great monastery of 

 Mendrisio, and where he lives, he 

 had sown a field of buckwheat, but 

 having on account (?f the drought 

 been obliged to sow too late, the 

 same thing happened to him as to 

 me, the same with the buckwheat 

 as with the heather, — to wit : the 

 flowers were there but the bees 

 never took the trouble to visit 

 them, because perhaps they se- 

 creted no nectar. 



Round about his hives were 

 planted groups of asters which were 

 in full bloom, and much visited by 

 the bees. 



Mr. Spinedi is seventy-seven 



