236 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



new hives; find I thiuk even Mr. Langstrotb, if 

 lie could see them, "would admit that lie never 

 saw Langstroth hives better made. These 1 

 filled with new swarms — most of them natural 

 swarms. And now it bogan to dawn on me 

 that my bees were badly diseased with foul- 

 brood; and, what was worse, I had taken no 

 precautions against the - spread of the disease, 

 but had allowed them all access to the diseased 

 honey, never suspecting the mischief that was 

 being done. I sold sixteen and had seventy- 

 seven on hand in the fall; but they were so 

 short of honey that 1 was forced to reduce their 

 number to forty-five. Next spring, 1867, I 

 transferred to my new hives all that still re- 

 mained in the old ones, and broke up the old 

 hives for firewood. That season I lost so many 

 from foulbrood that in the fall I had only thirty- 

 four on hand, including new swarms. Last 

 spring (18G8) I abandoned natural swarming. 

 1 lost" four by foulbrood, but made eleven artifi- 

 cial swarms, and have now forty-one on hand. 



If you thiuk this worth publishing, you will 

 hear again from 



Thomas C. Hill. 



Cape Breton, N. S. 



[From the London "Journal of Horticulture."] 



The Baroness Von Berlepseh, 



August Baron von Berlepseh, one of the most distin- 

 guished among the scientific beekeepers of Germany, 

 man ied somewhat more than three years ago, Liua 

 geb reu "Welebil. This lady appears quite as enthu- 

 siastic as her husband with regard to bees, and is, more- 

 over, exceedingly clever, bcinjr, I believe, mistress of 

 several modern languages. Having recently corres- 

 ponded w.th her, I can speak positively with regard to 

 r nglish, which she writes and speaks with remarks-ble 

 fluency and precision. It may be remembered that the 

 Baron was prevented attending the great meeting of 

 Germau bee-masters held at Darmstadt in September 

 list, owing to his having been prostrated by a stroke of 

 paralysis. The following article from the pen of the 

 Baroness has recently appeared, and nives so interest- 

 ing a glimpse of her married lite under these advere 

 ciicumstaucee, that 1 am induce! to submit a transla- 

 tion of part of it to the readers of " our Journal." 

 T. W. Wooobuiiy, 

 "A Devonshire Beekeeper." 



Mount Radford, Exeter, England. 



BEHIND THE SCENES. 



The delightful days of Darmstadt are over, and, 

 although it was not permitted us to be present, 

 they are still endeared to us by many agreeable 

 reminiscences. Behind the scones, as it were, 

 we might yet take part in the proceedings, and 

 delight in the considerate attention which was 

 so kindly shown us. 



Our first visitor was the Marquis Balsamo 

 Crivelli, who went direct from Coburgto Darm- 

 stadt. In him we made the acquaintance of an 

 enthusiastic bee-friend, and an amiable and 

 honorable man. I count his brief visit as one of 

 the flowers among the garland of joys which 

 arose to us out of the meeting at Darmstadt. 



As the sun of the 8th of September rose beam- 

 ing in the heavens my heart indeed felt heavy, 

 and it drew me powerfully towards the South. 

 Hour by hour we followed in imagination the 

 movements and proceedings of the assembly, 



and hailed with joyful emotion the arrival of 

 the telegram which conveyed to us its greeting 

 and kindly sympathy. It may be permitted to 

 me to return to all and every one our heartfelt 

 thanks for the honorable distinction which was 

 thus conferred upon us. 



Time passed on, and the meeting at Darm- 

 stadt over, Counsellor Kalb and his wife were 

 the fiist who came to us, and, well pleased and 

 happy, related all the pleasures which they had 

 experienced. These were old friends, and we 

 chatted and chatted until my dear husband be- 

 came quite happy, when we prepared for an ex- 

 cursion to the Callenberg, so that he might rest 

 after all the friendly excitement. How these 

 bright hours shine in the camera obscura of the 

 memory ! Merry gossip, alternated with more 

 serious conversation, soon brought us to the 

 charming castle and favorite residence of our 

 Duchess, where a stroll through the rooms was 

 succeeded by a glance at the private apartment 

 of the great lady, which I can never recall but 

 with deep emotion. There, on a table placed 

 in front of the oriel window which commands 

 such a magnificent view, lay a simple wreath of 

 immortelles, which touched a chord within me, 

 whilst unutterable sensations rushed keenly 

 through my heart, like the wailings of an ^Eolian 

 harp. 



Descending from the castle we visited Curzins, 

 the game-keeper and bee-master, who kindly 

 exhibited his little menagerie, but pleased mo 

 best by calling together the deer, which ran at 

 large in the park, in order to feed them with ap- 

 ples. By this time evening had set in — a fragrant 

 and misty autumnal evening. On one side lay 

 the Castle of Callenberg, veiled in the twilight, 

 and on the other the citadel gleamed bright in 

 the golden rays of the setting sun, whilst before 

 us spread the wide park, traversed by the noble 

 deer which followed the melancholy "Cornel 

 come !" and fearlessly approached to receive 

 the proffered dainty. 



Guuther also came to Coburg. He is to me a 

 dear familiar personage, whose siDglc hearted 

 attachment to my husband has about it some- 

 thing almost touching. With him appeared my 

 husband's "dear friend" Vogel,* who visited us 

 both on his waj r to Darmstadt and back, but 

 whose visits were so flying that I scarcely got to 

 know him. He is too staid and grave to make 

 himself quickly at home, and I regrettingly saw 

 him depart without having succeeded iu pictur- 

 ing him exactly to myself. The community of 

 feeling which subsists between him and my hus- 

 band is, however, well known. 



The same day which carried off Vogel brought 

 Hopf, who was all fire and flame, not only on 

 account of Kohlet's process, but because of the 

 Rhine voyage, which had also contributed to 

 his excitement, although in quite a different 

 manner. Verily this Rhine voyage must be 

 charming, very, very charming. 



Eight days after the departure of Hopf, we 

 were enabled to greet Hrusuuka,f with winch 

 dear friend we had corresponded during a year 

 before we learned to know him personally. 



*Iutroducer of the Egyptian bee. 

 tlnvontor of the centrifugal hocey extracting machine. 



