American Bee Journal 



DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO BEE CULTURE. 



Vol. X. 



CHICAGO, JANUARY, 1874. 



No. 1. 



Correspondents should write only on one side of the 

 \«Ii^fi^u Their best thoughts and practical ideas are always 

 JMFelcome ,• no matter how rough, we will cheerfully " fix 



H|, Translated for the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in the Valley of the Weser. 



Iti'^ vuUey of the Weser, in the neigh- 

 borhood of Eintehi, is admitted b}^ every 

 sti'anger to l6e one of the most beautiful 

 and favored spots in Germany, and yet 

 bee culture, especially rational bee culture, 

 is so much neglected, that an improvement 

 is greatly to be desired. 



In Einteln, a town of over 5000 inhabit- 

 ants, there are not, leaving out my apiary, 

 fifteen swarms ! That more bees are not 

 kept here is to be wondered at, as nearly 

 every house has a large garden attached, 

 and most of the owners ot houses are also 

 farmers to a greater or less extent. And 

 the open country could hardly be better 

 adapted to bee culture. The largest api- 

 aries are found five or six leagues from 

 here, in the neighborhood of Stadhagen 

 and Eodenberg. The bee-keepers of tliat 

 locality wander about with the bees in 

 I the Heath. The Weser Valley here, how- 

 I ever, having an early yield of honey which 

 is unsurpassed, has for j^ears been visited 

 • ijvciy Spring by bee-keepers with from 200 

 _ to 300 stocks in straw baskets. The api- 

 arian remains here until the blossoming of 

 the flowers in the Heath. The Spring- 

 honey harvest here is wonderful. Then 

 comes the blossoming of the fruit trees, 

 of which there are a great al)undance in 

 the gardens, and along the roadway, giv- 

 ing an abundance of hone}^ and pollen ; 

 then follows the harvest from the seed 

 fields, Avhieh is usually very abundant. 

 Nowhere are there greater quantities of 



rape raised than here. Along the Weser 

 are found many meadows, rich in soil and 

 producing much honey. Boundless fields 

 are covered with the most beautiful flow- 

 ers. On the heavy grounds beans are 

 cultivated ; and along the roadways, etc., 

 millet grows and blossoms until late in Ftill. 



I can this year report the honey jidd 

 to have been very good, because in the 

 Summer fruit fields there was a great quan- 

 tity of wild heather, so that they appeared 

 as yellow as if covered with rape blossoms. 

 Thus, it is no wonder the bees had no 

 more room in which to store their honey.* 

 I observed that the queen stopped laying 

 for upwards of three weeks since, just as 

 soon as the cells were built, and filled with 

 honey. In such years those stocks are of 

 the greatest advantage, which are the 

 most populous. It is true we receive some- 

 what later pasturage from the forests, yet 

 our main dependence is upon the previous- 

 ly mentioned plants. This year I learned 

 the difference between the German and 

 Italian bees. The latter are much eai'lier 

 with their brood, and are, therefore, best 

 suited for localities like this. For many 

 years I have observed that the German 

 bees only become strong and populous 

 when the honey harvest is on the decline, 

 while the reverse is the case with the 

 Italians. 



I have the pleasure of being the first 

 person in this neighborhood to adopt the 

 movable comb system, and also to intro- 

 duce Italian bees. 



I secured the Italian race without much 

 trouble. I engaged a queen in the Au- 

 tumn of 1871, from Herr Henrme of Nier- 

 burg, and received a beautiful siDecimen 

 with a few worker bees. These I intro- 

 duced in the usual wa^' into a stock of 

 German bees, which I had eight days pre- 

 viously unqueened. Before inti-oducing 



*Here was a chance to use the honey emptying machiue. 



