173 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



September 



The 



Bee-keeping World. 



Sr\'EDEN. 



Bee-keeping it) Sweden dutes back to 

 tlie dark ages. Altlioiigli some parts of 

 the land are enveloped in snow and ice 

 for seven month'*, the bees there have 

 become acclimated and endure the long 

 winters fairly well. More bees were 

 kept during the middle age than are 

 now. The reason for this lies in the fact 

 that at those times Sweden was isolated 

 from the rest of the world the greater 

 part of the year and was obliged to get 

 along independently. The honey had to 

 answer the place of sugar as tlie latter 

 could not be imported at all times. 



In the thirteenth century honey was 

 used as a means to pay taxes; one ton of 

 honey equalled six tons of corn. 



The oldest practical bee book was 

 published in l(>S(i by Eriei; a better work 

 later — in 1738 — by Trievvald. In another 

 bee book of 175H the desire is expressed 

 to make the combs movable. In 1786 

 Linna?us published a work of value. He 

 explains therein that the queen leaves 

 the hive only for mating and when 

 swarming. He advises to clip the 

 queen's wings to prevent the escaping 

 of swarms. He says he can scarcely 

 understand how it is possible for a queeu 

 to lay as many eggs in a day as he had 

 observed. During the latter part of the 

 nineteenth century less interest in bee- 

 keeping was manifested among the 

 people of Sweden and fewer bees are 

 kept now than were before. 



GREECE. 



The honey and wax produced in 

 Greece annually is valued at about two 

 hundred thousand dollars and the supply 

 is not equal to the demand by a long 

 way, consequently prices range high. 

 Ordinary honey brings 25 cts. per pound 

 quick. Fancy honeys, such as is pro- 

 duced on Mount Hymettos and the rose 

 honey from the Province Karistia brings 

 two and three times as much. Wax 

 brings so ciuits. 



AROENTINIA. 

 Honey and wine used to be stored in 

 goat-skins in former times. In Argent- 

 inia iioru^v is brougbt into the market in 

 this same fashion. The honey is made 

 from sugar cam- syrup and is exported to 



Europe to some extent. (Liepzifjcr Bit)t 

 en Zeitung). 



BRAZIL. 



In Brazil bee-keepers complain of 

 their bees dying off rapidly. Poisonous 

 honey is supposed to be the cause. In- 

 side of three weeks one man has lost 

 forty-two colonies out of forty-five. An- 

 other one lost fifty- four colonies. The 

 losses do not occur every year. 



AUSTRIA. 



The introduction of queens by means 

 of an artificial queen-cell is recommend- 

 ed in the Bicnen-J^dter, and Doolittle is 

 given the credit of having been the first 

 to make these artificial cells for that 

 special purpose. He is reported as going 

 about it as follows : " Taking a round 

 stick (pencil shaped) ot proper size and 

 soaked in water, dipping the same into 

 melted wax several times to form a 

 heavy covering and thus making a 

 thimble-shaped cell which is slipped off 

 from the moulding-stick when the wax 

 is hardened. Covers for these cells are 

 cast in a similar manner and used to 

 close the cells after the queens are put 

 in." Cells must not be so roomy as t(> 

 allow a queen to turn around in the cell. 

 '9 



Austria is mountainous in many.'cc- 

 tions. The honey-flow on the hills is 

 necessarily later than it is on the plains 

 to the extent of weeks and even months 

 in some cases. Migratory bee-keeping 

 is the naf-ural result and colonies arc 

 usually carried on the backs of men and 

 women to the rather inaccessible loca- 

 tions. 



ITALY. 



The Pope Urban VIII. (1623-'44) in- 

 dulged in the i)leasures of bee-keeping, 

 he himself managing a large inimber of 

 colonies. His aim, like Frederic tiic 

 Great's, always was to induce the priest- 

 and laity alike to engage in bee-keeping. 



GERMANY. 



Portable apiaries are recommended in 

 Graven! I or sts' T(ln.st. Bicnen Zeitung. An 

 illustration depicts (me with a capacity 



