1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



627 



the devil, etc. Such chaps are very difficult to 

 be had just tlie momeut you Avaiit tliem, for 

 they are either prepai'ing to pray or praying, 

 and can not be disturbed'for any thing in the 

 world. 



The hives ai'e placed about four paces apart 

 •on each side, and covered with tiles individual- 

 ly in winter time; in summer there are no rains, 

 ■consequently they are taken away. Such a 

 hive weighs from (50 to 70 lbs. before the honey- 

 flow begins; and this is, taking eight hives per 

 camel, pretty near what such an animal can 

 carry. The value of a camel ranges from 40 to 

 ()0 dollars. 



A railway, the first one in Palestine, is now 

 building, and will likely diminish the earnings 

 from camels; consequently, also, the value of 

 the animal itself. The tiist Palestine railway, 

 fiom Jaffa to Jerusalem, is now in construction. 

 It was begun on the 31st of March, 1890. Possi- 

 bly in future bees will be transported by rail, 

 instead of camelback. as it has been done hith- 

 erto, with great risk to the camel's life. 



and tallest of all, in the Arab clothing, and 

 having an Arab bee-veil on. Many hives have 

 been already transported to the thyme-fields. 

 This is why the rows are incomplete. The ex- 

 tract! ng-house is away in front. 



This will give you only a faint idea of Jaffa 

 and the vast oi'ange-groves. In the season of 

 1889 and '90 there were exported to England 

 alone, thirteen million oranges. I do not know 

 exactly how many to other countries. 



Ph. J. Bai.densbekgek. 



Jaffa, Syria, May 37. 



[PMend B.. it is to be hoped that our mission- 

 aries may soon make progress in Palestine, and 

 let the real spirit of God's holy word supplant 

 the superstitious traditions you tell us about. 

 I am afraid I should lose patience, and tell the 

 fellow you speak of that I preferred somebody 

 for a helper who did less praying, and what he 

 did do, of a better kind. I do not know how 

 profitable you make bee-keeping; but we Yan- 

 kees would be continually inquiring. "Does it 



ANOTHEH VIEW OE BALDENSPEKGER'S APIARY, JAFFA, SYRIA. 



I send another photo, taken by an amateui' in 

 my apiary. It was taken in spring. The hives 

 in front are nuclei; the hinder ones, with the 

 supers on, full colonies: the ground whereon 

 the hives are standing is covered with weeds, 

 and the weeds with snails. In the background 

 are the orange-groves of Jaffa. Jaffa is on 

 three hills, in the horizon, the main town being 

 between and behind the two figures to the left, 

 looking at the photo. The first man on the left 

 IS my brother Henry, with a comb in his hands 

 ■on the liive before him. a pair of gloves, and 

 next to him an Arab holding a '" Palestine im- 

 proved " smoker. The bellows is to be driven 

 with both hands, as no spring opens it. Next 

 is your humble servant, with Bingham smoker 

 in one hand, and my litti(^ daughter, aged five, 

 Avith bee-veil, beside me. and behind the earth- 

 enware indigenous bee-hives, out of which the 

 bees and comb have been taken and transferred 

 into movable-frame hives. My man is the last 



pay to fuss so much and run such risks of load- 

 ing bees on camels, etc.?" The views of the 

 orange-trees at the foot of hills remind me so 

 vividly of California that I feel a great longing 

 to see an orange-grove again. Whenever I 

 taste our Messina, Sorrento, and Palermo or- 

 anges, I think of the immense quantities our 

 neighbors across the great ocean produce in 

 order to send them so far away, and still they 

 are sold at from only ten to twenty cents a doz- 

 en. During the past year we have fi'equentlv 

 found oranges by the dozen cheaper than apples 

 by the dozen.] 



^ I f 



BEES AND STRAWBERRIES. 



A REPORT FROM VIRGINIA. 



I carried 18 hives thi'ough the winter on sum- 

 mer stands, without any loss. By natural 

 swarming I now have 49 doing well. Some of 



