156 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



LUETHORST, Oct. 31, 1866. 



Trof. Birkenstock : 



Dear Sir : I Lad already, iu the course of 

 last summer, heard of the existence of your 

 Bee Gazette, but only obtained sight of it j 

 through your special kindness, for which I hear- i 

 tily thank you. A perusal of the first three num- 

 bers satisfied me thatyour undertaking startswith 

 broad practical views, and will doubtless be 

 prosecuted with gratifying results. It was cer- 

 tainly a happy thought to devote special atten- 

 tion, in the "Foreign Department" of your 

 paper, to what has been accomplished in the Old 

 World iu apistical science, since it cannot be 

 denied that here, in the field of practical bee- 

 culture, much has been achieved, a knowledge 

 of which must be highly advantageous to the 

 bee-keepers of tne New World. That you es- 

 pecially have taken charge of this portion of the 

 work, appears to me to give assurance that it 

 Avill be executed with skill and success. As the 

 name of Birkenstock is already favorably known 

 in German apisticks, so, I am firmly persuaded, 

 it will through you obtain similar estimation in 

 this regard in the New World. Your Bi:.e Ga- 

 zette cannot fail to exert an influence for the 

 advancement of bee-culture iu North America, 

 like that which the Eichst kit Birnenzeitung 

 exerted, and sLill exerts, iu Germany. I do not 

 doubt that North American bee-keepers will 

 soon turn to it with the same eagerness with 

 which, according to the humorous sketch of 

 your German correspondent, our bee-keepers 

 here turn to th3 Eichstadt Bienenzciiung. 



I anticipate also the approach of the time 

 when we Germans shall turn to your Gazette 

 to learn in what respects the American apiarians 

 are surpassing us. We confidently look forward 

 to the time wiien we shall be enabled to appro- 

 priate much of a practical nature from the ex- 

 periments of your countrymen, while, we trust, 

 on the other hand, to be able still, in future, to 

 place in the scale our advances in theoretical 

 science, and thus maintain an equipose 



a new edition, in the preparation of which I 

 was united with the editor, Andrew Schmid. I 

 conceive that I may properly recommend to you 

 this new, revised, and systematically arranged 

 edition, presenting as it does the Dzierzou 

 theory and practice of bee culture from its origin 

 to its ultimate triumph. The work was published 

 at Nordlingen, in two large octavo volumes. It 

 is peculiarly adapted to your purpose, and may 

 be regarded as the repository of all Geriuan at- 

 tainments in theoretical and practical bee-cul- 

 ture to the year I8G3. 



In later years, the Bienenseitung has had to 

 encounter the competition of numerous rivals. 

 This is readily accounted for from the increased 

 and still growing interest felt in bee-culture, 

 which it is nevertheless not calculated to benefit, 

 as it tends to fritter away energies which re- 

 quire to be concentrated to become efficient in 

 securing progress. For this reason I desire that 

 your Bee Gazette may long escape such 

 rivalry. 



You complain that much of the contents of 

 German treatises on bee-culture is, for you, prac- 

 tically unavailable, because it is, iu part, of 

 local application, and in part controversial. The ^ 

 former is natural and incidental, and the latter 

 unavoidable. How could we, without contro- 

 versy, have achieved victories ? We had, and 

 still have, to assail antiquated and erroneous 

 notions; and that cannot be done without elicit- 

 ing strife. But hence, too, Ave may boast that 

 we have thoroughly rid ourselves of much use- 

 less trash. But how readily error may creep in, 

 and thus obtain seeming sanction, I can per- 

 ceive even from your Gazette. Thus youliave 

 adopted this from Dr. Asmusz : "Our honey- 

 bee originated as it seems, and is now generally 

 accepted, in Syria, or at least iu some more 

 suitable climate than that of Europe." {Bee 

 Grt3e«e, page 41.) Yet we are still altogether 

 in the darlTas its original couutry. Though it 

 must unquestionably be sought for on the Old 

 Continent, it must still be deemed a vain con- 

 cert to assume for it a definite locality, or to as- 



Your correspondent also extols the merits of sign it to a particular country. Just as it is im- 



the German clergy in bee-culture. Well, I 

 shall by no means question their claims, yet it 

 would be invidious not candidly to recognize 

 those of others likewise. There are brilliant 

 names Avhich present themselves on every side, 

 a few of which, as they recur to me, permit me 

 to recount, viz : Dr. Alefield, Dr. Barth. Baron 

 of Berlepsch, Baron Bose, President Busch, Dr. 

 Dimhoff, Baron Ehrenfels, Mr. Gundelach, Mr. 

 Ilerwig, Dr. Hofmanu, Dr. lliibeler, Dr. Juhne, 

 Commissary Kaden, Mr. KnaufF, Dr. Kiichen- 

 meister. Prof. Leuckart, Mr. Mehring, P of. 

 Meuzel, Prof. Ratzeburg, Commissary Riem, 

 Mr. Ramdohr, Prof. Von Siebold, Director 

 Stohr, Count Stosch, Prof. Treviranus, Prof. 

 Zenker, and many more, who have displayed 

 distinguished merit in scientific and jDractical 

 bee-culture. 



The most influential and important journal of 

 bee-culture is, for us, unquestionably, the Eich- 

 stadt BianenzeUung, which has been in efficient 

 operation for more than twenty-two years. Of 

 its importance you may judge from the fact that, 

 in the year 1861, it became necessary to publish 



possible to say with certainty where any of our 

 domestic animals originated, or whence their 

 distribution proceeded, so also we do not find 

 anywhere an original type of the honey-bee 

 from which its native country might be inferred. 

 To assume, in the present state of our knowledge, 

 that hyria was its original home, is purely ridi- 

 culous. Again, it is stated, in the same place : 

 " In the ye^ir 184i5, the Italian bee was intro- 

 duced into Germany by Captain Baldenstein." 

 Whereas the truth is that Captain Baldenstein 

 never brought Italian bees to Germany, much 

 less iu 184;3. Undoubtedly some suggestious 

 made by him in the Blenenzeitung of 1H51 first 

 impressed Dzierzou with the importance of the 

 Italian bee in elucidating and solving various 

 controverted theoretical points, and induced him 

 to procure a colony from Italy; and thus the 

 Italian bee was really first introduced into Ger- 

 many by Dzierzou. 



I might call your attention to much besides, 

 but do not by any meaus design thereby to 

 undervalue your publication. I would simply 

 show how very easily occasion may be givCj^ 



