792 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Oct. 



GRAVENHORST. 



A SKETCH OF THE MAN AND HIS METHODS OF 

 WOKK. 



fHE name of the German bee-veteran, C. J. H. 

 Gravenhorst (born Sept. 26, 1823), is well 

 known to the readers of Gleanings. The 

 teachers of Germany educate not only the 

 people in the science of reading and writing, 

 but many of them are likewise excellent ama- 

 teur bee-keepers, silkworm raisers, etc., etc. ; so, 

 too, our friend kept bees as long as he acted as 

 teacher. In 1863, a disease of the ears made it nec- 

 essary to quit teaching, and from this time he kept 

 bees in the city of Braunschweig, as a specialist, 

 and for the support of his family. Near this city 

 are the wide plains of Lusneburg, with the honey- 

 yielding heath, where bee-keeping has been a pro- 

 fession for centuries. Here the old heath bee- 

 keeper wanders with 

 100 or more straw 

 skeps from one honey- 

 How to the other till 

 late in the fall; and 

 they are masters in 

 their trade, those old 

 bee - keepers. Here 

 friend G ravenhorst got 

 his first education as 

 bee-keeper. As the 

 movable comb was 

 more and more used, 

 he used hives after 

 Dzierzon and Ber- 

 lepsch. He saw the 

 advantages of these 

 hives, but his income 

 was not so large as he 

 wished. In many re- 

 spects the old straw 

 skeps were better. So 

 the aim to unite the 

 advantages of mova- 

 ble fi-ames with the ad- 

 vantages of the straw 

 skeps caused Graven- 

 horst to invent his 

 hive, the " bogenstuel- 

 per" and he made it 

 public in 186.5. Here I 

 will remark, that Gra- 

 venhorst's hive was 

 the first one in Ger- 

 many by which any 

 frame could be taken 

 out without reuioving 

 a nvunber of other 

 ones, as in our Langstroth hive, and Gravenhorst 

 has spoken and written for this principle all the 

 time. 



As to his originality, his whole management and 

 many things finally adopted here in the United 

 States were known and used by Gravenhorst first, al- 

 though in another form. On the other hand, his 

 knowledge of the English language enabled him to 

 study our American methods, and two voyages to 

 England showed to him the progress of apiculture 

 in that country, and he did not fail to use what he 

 learned, of course modified for his contrivances. 

 For a long time he was tlie only bee-keeper in Ger- 

 many who reported in bee-papers the advance in 



the United States and England. His experiences 

 are laid down in many articles for bee-papers. 



About 1873 Gravenhorst published the first edition 

 of his book, Der Practische Imkrr (The Practical Bee- 

 Keeper). It was merely a pamphlet describing his 

 hive and management. In 1878 the second edition 

 came out, enlarged to a manual for the bee-keeper, 

 and now I have before me the 4th edition, 1887, 

 beautifully illustrated, and much enlarged and 

 improved. The first of October, 1883, he started a 

 new bee-paper, lllustrierte Bienenzeitung, by which 

 he gives to his readers the experiences njade in his 

 own large apiary, as well as the most important im- 

 provements in apiculture in the wide world. This 

 bee-paper is now one of the best, if not the best, in 

 Germany. 



In 1884 he was driven away from his home. His 

 neighbors did not like bees, and Gra^•enhor8t was 

 ordered to remove liis. He appealed from court to 

 court, and the German 

 bee-keepers stood no- 

 bly by him, helping to 

 pay the expenses; but 

 the lawsuit was lost, 

 and he sold his old 

 home in the city of 

 Braunschweig and 

 moved his bees to Stor- 

 beckshof, near the val- 

 ley of the Elbe. 



If we look in liis 

 book we will see many 

 engravings which 

 seem strange to us. 

 But if we read the 

 book, and if we know 

 the honey resources 

 of bis country, we are 

 bound to say that Gi-a- 

 \ enhorst's hive and 

 management are not 

 to be surpassed for his 

 locality. His hive is 

 especially adapted for 

 wandering and for 

 (|uick handling. Many 

 manipulations are 

 done by hives instead 

 of by frames, the same 

 idea represented now 

 by Mr. Heddon, but in 

 quite a different way. 

 The American bee- 

 keeper will be aston- 

 ished if he sees that 

 Gravenhorst's hive is 

 turned upside down to 

 take out tlie frames. This is at first a concession 

 to the custom of the heath bee-keeper; but many 

 advantages are gained thereby. Many times we 

 see all we need by a glimpse from below by lifting 

 the hive only a few inches on one side. If the col- 

 ony builds some drone coml) here, we have a sure 

 sign that the swarming fever is commencing. The 

 Heddon and similar invertible hives will show us 

 these advantages by and by. The cover of the 

 hive is tight, and no mat or cloth or quilt is to bo 

 removed. This is an advantage, especially in the 

 spring, after a revision has been necessary, because 

 not a bit of the warm air of the hive can escape. 

 The objections against this hive are, that for a short 



