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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



soms. The information we have from this 

 land regarding bee-keeping in those early 

 days is principally gleaned from the hiero- 

 glyphics on pyramids, obelisks, sphinxes, and 

 on remains of temple walls. Honey was 

 used to embalm the dead ; wax also for the 

 same purpose, and to make coffins air-tight. 

 Bee-hives were made of cane, and coated with 

 clay. Others made them wholly of clay, and 

 burned them. vSuch hives are being made, up 

 to this day. The Egyptians practiced migra- 

 tory bee-keeping at an early date. It is re- 

 corded in history that Solon, "the Wise," 

 made a special trip from Greece to Egypt 

 about 600 B. C. for the purpose of learning 

 this art of bee-keeping. 



Palestine abounded with bees at the time 

 the Israelites first occupied it. The many 

 cavities in the chalk rocks and trees furnished 

 all the needed shelter for the bees, and the 

 people obtained all their honey and wax by 

 simply robbing the bees. After the advent of 

 Chnst, bees were kept in hives and in apiaries. 

 Even a smoker had come into use, in which 

 well-dried droppings from the cattle-yard were 

 burned. A law is recorded forbidding the 

 lighting of the smoker on the sabbath day (it 

 might be well for a few of us to make a uote 

 of this ) . 



Apiculture in Arabia seems of later oiigin, 

 the people having copied from the Greeks and 

 Romans. The first history we find in the 

 Koran. Mohammed devotes a whole chapter 

 in it to bees and bee-keeping. Mohammed's 

 followers believed that honey was the princi- 

 pal food in " the happy land beyond." 



Numerous Greek and Roman writers have 

 given us bits of bee- history here and there. 

 Virgil called the bees repeatedly ' ' the children 

 of the dead (rotten) ox." According to tra- 

 dition bees might be produced at will at any 

 time in this manner : Take a two-year-old 

 steer (the Latin word for steer is apis, and so 

 it will be seen that the word apis means steer 

 as well as bee); stuff rags or the like into his 

 nose and mouth, no matter how much he may 

 object, and now belabor him with a club till 

 dead, but without breaking his skin. Now 

 let him lie till decomposed. After a time, it 

 was said, bees would come forth from the 

 carcass. 



It seems incredible that so absurd a story as 

 the above could have found any believers; but 

 this is unmistakably so; for even Melancthon, 

 the bosom friend of Dr. Martin Luther, living 

 1497 — 1560, believed it. Yes, even later writ- 

 ers have recorded it as a fact. However, not 

 all the " smart men " were as ignorant of the 

 natural history of the bee as that. Aristotle, 

 living between 400 and 300 years B. C, does 

 not even mention this steer-story. His knowl- 

 edge was away beyond that of other mortals 

 of his time — yes, even of our times. 



When talking with a man of high education 

 but a year or two ago on the subject of bees 

 the conversation turned to the sources of 

 honey. I mentioned that our bees " made 

 the most of our honey from basswood." 



" I had no idea the bees could make honey 

 out of any kind of wood," was the educated 

 man's reply, and he meant what he said. 



Aristotle was well acquainted with the nature 

 of the bee. He knew the true sex of the 

 queen, the workers, the drone. He knew the 

 queen laid all the eggs, knew the time of 

 development of the different bees ; he was 

 wrong, however, in supposing the old bees to 

 be the nurses, the young the field-workers. 

 It is hard to understand that this knowledge 

 that Aristotle possessed in regard to the life of 

 the bee did not spread more, and become the 

 property of the people; but it is a fact that, 

 during the following 2000 years, more was for- 

 gotten than added, and this in the face of the 

 fact that a great many bees were kept. There 

 was Julius Caesar, 100 — 44 B. C. All of his 

 farms were well stocked up with bees. Others 

 followed his example. In the eighth century, 

 Karl the Great, reigning over a vast empire, 

 did a great deal to promote the keeping of 

 bees. After the Roman Catholic church had 

 gained a foothold in Europe, the monks, in 

 their monasteries especially, made a business 

 of keeping bees, and induced the people to do 

 the same. During the eleventh century the 

 church demanded of the people the tenth of 

 all the honey and wax harvested of wild bees, 

 and the third from bees kept in hives. In 

 view of this fact, what bee-keeper of to-day 

 has any reason for complaining of high taxes ? 



For illuminating purposes at these times, 

 the wax candle was the best thing obtainable, 

 and only the rich could afford it in a limited 

 way. Others had to be satisfied with the light 

 of a burning pitch-pine knot. The churches 

 in particular consumed much wax for candles. 

 Before Luther's time the principal church in 

 Wittenberg used for this purpose in one year 

 35,000 pounds of wax. This demand for wax, 

 and for an article to sweeten foods and drinks, 

 stimulated the bee-business to a great extent, 

 and the number of colonies of bets increased. 

 It is stated that, during the eleventh and 

 twelfth centuries, whole shiploads of hor.ey 

 and wax were exported from Germany to 

 Palestine via Constantinople. Regular honey- 

 markets were held every year in the cities of 

 Augsburg, Niirnberg, Frankfort, and Cologne. 

 Large breweries were built, in which quanti- 

 ties of honey-beer were made — enough, it is 

 stated, to subdue large city fires. I take a 

 few items from a honey-market report, said 

 market being held in Niirnberg in 1250. 



Comb honey was offered on earthen dishes, 

 strained honey in pails and tubs ; chunks of 

 wax were heaped up in large piles. The 

 honey (strained) was sold by the "seidel," 

 and, according to a chronicle of that time, the 

 seidel contained "fourteen mouthfuls and two 

 fingers." Druggists were bantering for wax. 

 Who knows, adds a later reporter, what a 

 mixture of pulverized toad-eyes and beeswax 

 might be good for ? The city clerk needs wax 

 for seals, and he is picking out the nicest 

 pieces. Suddenly the business comes to a 

 standstill, as the market-master and his crew 

 are making the round to inspect. Honey 

 harvested before the birthday of the Virgin 

 Mary is not wholesome, and must not be 

 offered for sale. The market-master receives 

 the statement under oath that the honey is of 

 the proper character. 



