THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



253 



Letter from Bohemia. 



A letter from Kudolf Mayerli offer, Esq., 

 editor of the Bicncnvitter, at Prague, 

 Bohemia, Austria, states that the f^eneral 

 meeting of bee-masters at IJolieinia was 

 held in Tetsehen on Wednesday, 8ei>, 0th; 

 and the meeting of the German bee-masters 

 was held at Breslaw on Sept. 14th. He 

 wishes that American apiarists could have 

 had on exhibition there some of tiie pro- 

 ducts of their apiaries. lie remarks that 

 honey boxes are unknown in Austria and 

 Germany. 9 



He states that the French say that Ameri- 

 cans do not believe In, or use movable 

 combs to any great extent, and asks if this 

 is so. It may surprise some of our readers 

 to know that among French ai)iarists there 

 are two schools, the mobilistes and the fix- 

 istes, the former advocating movable and 

 the latter fixed combs. In tliis country a 

 bee-keeper who should use anytliing but 

 movable combs would be considered very 

 much behind the times or in some way very 

 peculiar. If there is, in this country, any 

 man who is keeping bees to any extent 

 without using movable frames, he is cer- 

 tainly not widely known among tlie frater- 

 nity. It would be somewhat natural that 

 tills should be so, as movable frames in 

 their present practical form were the inven- 

 tion of an American — the Rev. L. L. Langs- 

 troth — whom apiarists, the world over, 

 delight to honor. 



The Value of Italians. 



Moore^s Rural New Yorker endorses an 

 article written by a correspondent of the 

 London Journal of Horticulture, in which 

 the writer speaks in not very flattering 

 terms of the Americans as exaggerating the 

 value of the Italians or Ligurians. He says: 



"And even in America, in a convention of 

 bee-keepers, the (luestiou of the superiority 

 of Ligurians was diitcnssed by the most able 

 men of that country; and, so far as I could 

 judge, the bulk of disinterested evidenee 

 was not in favor of Ligurians, and objec- 

 tions were made by honest men to their bee 

 journals being edited by dealers or interest- 

 ed parties. 



"I am visited bj' respectable bee-keepers 

 from all parts of the country, and those who 

 keep Ligurians, as well as those who live 

 where they are kept, tell me that they are 

 no better tlian common bees. I am not 

 prejudiced against them in any way, and 

 shall be pleased to see evidence of their 

 superiority from any trustworthy (juaiter; 

 but nothing but facts are adniissibh' as evi- 

 dence. When these are producctl 1 will 

 speedily rid my garden of lazy lices, as my 

 object in bee-keeping is profit. We siiall be 

 abundantly gratified if satisfactory evidence 

 be presented to the readers of this journal 



and the bee-keepers of Great Britain tliat a 

 superior bee is among us. In my search for 

 evidence of the suixTKirity of Ligurian bees 

 I have been unsuccessful for ten years." 



We are aware that exaggerated statements 

 have been made as to the value of Italians, 

 and will humbly receive wliatever reproof 

 our English cousins may clioose to give us 

 for our tendency to brag. But we are sur- 

 prised that a paper for which we have so 

 high estinuition as we have for the Rural 

 New Yorker should virtually endorse the 

 statement that Italians are no better than 

 black bees. If in any convention the mat- 

 ter was discussed by tlie most able men of 

 this country, and the bulk of disinterested 

 evidence Avas not in favor of Italians, then 

 we failed to read aright the reports. 



The editor of this journal is interested in 

 the Italians only so far as he is interested 

 in getting stock that will give him the best 

 yield, he having only honey to sell, but he 

 would pay a very high price for an Italian 

 queen rather than keep only black bees. 

 We feel safe in making the assertion that 

 not one in a hundred of the intelligent bee- 

 keepers of this country who have tried the 

 Italians, would be willing to go back to the 

 common black bees. 



If there were no other advantage but the 

 single one of keeping the hive free from the 

 moth, this would be enough to place the 

 Italians far above the blacks. 



Advice to Beginners. 



Beginners in bee-culture, who desii-e to read 

 up in the literature of bee-keeping, are earnest- 

 ly advised to obtain the tirst Volume of The 

 American Bee Journal. Tliis volume Is 

 M'orth five times its price to any intelligent 

 bee-keeper. It contains a full elucidation of 

 scientific bee- lieeping, including the best 

 statement extant of the celebrated Dzierzon 

 theory. These articles run through all the 

 numbers, and are fi-om the pen of the Baron 

 of Berlepsch. We have a itw copies to dispose 

 of at the following low prices: in cloth boards, 

 ?1.25; in paper covers, Jl.OO, postpaid. 



Many of our best apiarists say they would 

 not sell their back volumes of The American 

 Bee .Journal for ten times tlie sum they cost, 

 if they could not replace them. Thej' are ex- 

 ceedingly valuable alike to beginners and 

 moi-e advanced apiarists. 



Ji^"The Abbott Pocket Microscope, ad- 

 vertised on another page, is an instrument 

 of great usefulness for examining flowers, 

 seeds, plants, insects, etc. It is in a con- 

 venient form for carrying in the pocket and 

 thus be ready for use on any occasion when 

 wanted. W^e will send this microscope to 

 any address by mail, post-])aid, upon receipt 

 of the manufacturer's price, SI. .50. 



