1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



923 



THOMAS B. BliO^W 



AS A BEE-KEEPER AND SUPPLY-DEALER; HIS VISIT 

 TO MEDINA. 



«S previously announced, we have had 

 a very pleasant and enjoyable visit 

 from Mr. Thomas B. Blow, of Wel- 

 wyn, Herts, England. Mr. Blow is 

 not only a bee-keeper but a supply- 

 dealer, as those of our readers will know 

 who take the British Bee Journal. He 

 keeps about 100 colonies of bees. His sup- 

 ply business is rapidly growing, and at 

 the present time is one of the largest if not 

 the largest of the kind in Europe. He has 

 traveled very extensively, and, if we remem- 

 ber correctly, he has visited every country 

 in Europe except Russia. He has also 

 visited Algiers, Egypt, the Island of Malta, 

 Cyprus, and the Holy Land. All of these 

 visits have been in the interests of the busy 

 bee. The same is true of his visit to Ameri- 

 ca and American bee-keepers. He is a fair 

 type of an Englishman, and is also consider- 

 able of a Yankee, in his energy, activity, and 

 push. 



Chancing to glance over a late number of 

 Bevista Apicola, a Spanish bee-journal, we 

 noticed that the editor of that journal, Mr. 

 Andreu, had recently paid Mr. Blow a visit 

 — at least, not longer ago than last spring. 

 As he gives so many interesting items con- 

 cerning our friend and his business, we have 

 thought best to copy the report of his visit, 

 which we find in the above-named journal, 

 published in I'ort Mahon, Spain : 



In the middle of a large plain crossed by countless 

 rivulets, and covered by an exuberant vegetation, 

 lies Welwyn, surrounded by myriads of flowers. 

 Such a meadow, with neither bees nor apiculturist, 

 would be incomplete. The nectar of those flowers 

 would be lost, and also, in consequence, the thou- 

 sands of pounds of honey which to-day are gathered 

 there. If you wish to see a model apicultural pop- 

 ulation, see Welwyn. 



" Where does Mr. Blow live V" I asked of a boy, as 

 I alighted from the train. 



"Ah! Mr. Blow. I will accompany you if you 

 wish." And the active and polite young English- 

 man started off on the road, taking immoderately 

 long steps, after the English style. On the road he 

 spoke to me of Mr. Blow and of his bees. " Every- 

 body knows him. His bees will not sting, for he 

 treats them well," etc. Once at the house of my 

 apicultural friend, I dismissed my kind guide and 

 inquired for Thomas. 



Mr. Thomas B. Blow, the well-known English api- 

 culturist, is about 38 years old; and one might 

 presume, in consequence, that he is a worthy repre- 

 sentative of human activity, improved by the 

 experience gathered in a multitude of voyages. 

 Besides being a very skillful photographer, he is an 

 expert draughtsman, and his albums are immense 

 archives where are collected every thing good and 

 useful which he has seen in his apicultural travels. 



With the kindness which characterizes him, he 

 accompanied me through all the departments of his 

 workshops. Steam, that mighty agent which to-day 

 figures in every industry, moves the many machines 

 of the rooms. Among others was one for planing 

 boards 45 centimeters wide. Mr. Blow explained to 

 me that it was the flrst one imported to England 

 from the United States, and was designed for mak- 

 ing sections. This machine has been in use for 

 several years, planing, on an average, 10,000 sections 

 daily; but it is now used only for planing, as the 

 Americans ship sections to Europe at a lower price 

 than they can be made in England, for the English 

 have to import the wood. A large number of plan- 

 ers, saws of various kinds, chisels, etc., fill up this 

 vast workshop, where it is difficult to hear oneself 

 on account of the noise produced by so much ma- 

 chinery. 



We went up to the flrst floor, where we found the 



hands cutting boards in transverse sections with a 

 large circular saw fastened to an axis like a pendu- 

 lum, which the operator draws toward the wood to 

 be cut. 



On the same floor are the rooms for making comb 

 foundation. I there saw large bo.xesofwax from 

 Italy, Zanzibar, Madagascar, etc. This wax is divid- 

 ed up into piles of convenient size and proper 

 quality for the manufacture of good foundation, 

 which is impossible when only one kind of wax is 

 used. The Italian wax is very handsome, but too 

 soft. That from Madagascar is too hard, etc. 



Mr. xindreu, the editor, then proceeds to 

 give in detail Mr. Blow's method of making 

 comb foundation. As his plan is essentially 

 the same as the one in use by the best 

 foundation-makers of this country, we omit 

 it. In speaking of Mr. Blow's diplomas (and 

 you know the English and Europeans iji 

 general are great folks for medals and diplo- 

 mas), Mr. Andreu says: 



In the machine-room my attention was struck by. 

 the large number of diplomas, premiums, and hon- 

 orable mentions which adorn the walls. 



"Where did these diplomas come from?" I asked 

 of Mr. Blow. 



" They came from various expositions, and cost 

 much labor. Here are seen the certificates of many 

 small expositions, in nearly every one oi which I 

 found myself obliged to figure somewhat. And al- 

 though this cost many voyages and a good deal of 

 work, you see 1 have obtained rewards by the hun- 

 dred. I will now show you my collection of medals, 

 lest you imagine they are all paprr." 



So saying he drew forth a large chest quite full of 

 apartments, which he opened in my presence, and 

 which contained splendid medals of gold, silver, and 

 bronze. 



"Let us go and see one of the apiaries, not very 

 far distant," said Mr. Blow. 



We went out from that Babylon, and walked to the 

 little city of the bees, for so his apiary seemed, with 

 its straight streets. Mr. Blow informed me that 

 this apiary contained only about 100 colonies, as he 

 had made several large sales during the spring. 



He sent one colony to Scotland. They were Car- 

 niolans, which is the favorite race with Mr. Blow, 

 on account of their good temper and activity. We 

 went through all the apiary, and my friend inform- 

 ed me that he had started apiaries with his hives at 

 the Cape of Good Hope, in Queensland, Tasmania, 

 Cyprus, New Zealand, and manj- other countries. 

 Mr. Blow is the only dealer in bees in England who 

 has visited the principal apiaries in Carniola, and 

 this with the sole object of being able to otter his pa- 

 trons bees of a pure race, and queens of a quality 

 which can not be bettered, So great is his trade in 

 bees that he told me that, in spite of the fact that 

 his situation in spring was so favorable, he had not 

 produced honey enough to even feed his bees, as 

 the brood and artificial swarms had consumed it all. 



JAPANESE BUCK"WHEAT. 



PROF. COOK'S EXPERIENCE WITH IT, AS TO THE 



AMOUNT OF YIELD, SIZE OF SEED, QUALITY OP 



FLOUR, AND A YIELDER OF HONEY. 



fRIEND ROOT:— As you requested, 1 send you 

 my conclusions after raising a crop of Japan- 

 ese buckwheat. I thought at the time, that 

 $3.00 per bushel was a good deal to pay for 

 seed; but now after raising the crop I do not 

 regret that 1 paid it. I sowed one-half early in 

 June, and the remainder late in the same month. 

 Thus the field was in blossom a long time. When 

 the blossoms flrst opened, the bees visited them 

 freely, though upon close observation it was found 

 that the bees cease gathering from these flowers 

 some time before the flowers fade. Again, you 

 know that common report hath it, that bees will 

 not work after noonday on the flowers of com- 

 mon buckwheat. This was not true this season on 

 our Japanese variety. We observed bees on che 



