1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



9 



velvety and soft just now; but look out for the 

 claws, if we happen to reach out for a dish 

 that he covets. 

 Hamilton, 111. 



[As I understand you, friend D., you prefer 

 the large hives, even for comb hone}', because 

 their brood-nests are capable of equaling the 

 capacity of the best queens ; and that, when- 

 ever one is not able to fill the whole brood- 

 nest, you contract the hive to her needs. 



Now, here is a question I want to ask you : 

 How many frames, of Ouinby size, will your 

 average good queens fill with brood, as frames 

 are ordinarily filled ? What I am getting at is 

 this : Is the eight-frame single Langstroth 

 brood-nest, in your opinion, large enough to 

 accommodate the breeding capacity of the 

 average good queens ? 



Our Mr. Calvert, who makes out our esti- 

 mates, has figured on the two styles of hive 

 you describe, and he estimates that the larger 

 one would cost only about 40 or 50 per cent 

 more than the smaller one. If that is the 

 case, then you, in your preceding article, made 

 a stronger case against the large hives than 

 was necessary. It shows you meant to be en- 

 tirely fair. — Ed.] 



EUROPEAN BEE-KEEPING. 



Wander-Verein of the German-Austrian and Hun- 

 garian Bee-keepers. 



BY F. GREINER. 



The conventions of this association have al- 

 ways made a favorable impression on me. 

 One reason is, perhaps, because I am a Ger- 

 man myself; but I believe more so because not 

 only the common people are greatly interested 

 in them, but also the authorities of state and 

 municipality have a way of showing their in- 

 terest, which is at least pleasing and perhaps 

 encouraging. The meetings are frequently 

 led or conducted by some high official, per- 

 haps a secretary of agriculture or his repre- 

 sentative. This has some advantages. Al- 

 though a president of this order can not be 

 expected to be and is not at home on the sub- 

 ject of bee-keeping, still he understands the 

 parliamentary rules better. He is not apt to 

 be carried away with this or that subject. 

 From his disinterested standpoint he can often 

 better decide when to close a discussion. Per- 

 sonalities are not likely to creep in, etc. The 

 fact that a man of high rank presides at such 

 a meeting lends weight and importance to it 

 in the eyes of the general public, and casts an 

 edifying light upon the whole pursuit. What- 

 ever may be said against the practice, the fact 

 remains that the gatherings of the Wander- 

 verein have almost always been conducted in 

 a faultless manner. The fact that the govern- 

 ment lends its help to the undertaking causes 

 a better attendance ; and when bee keepers 

 know that every thing will be done by the 

 city in which the convention is to be held, 

 that no efforts will be spared to make it pleas- 

 ant for the attendants, and to help to make 

 the whole a success, that also has a wholesome 



effect, and induces many to come to these 

 meetings. 



Generally the inhabitants of a city where a 

 convention is to be held offer free board and 

 lodging to all who prefer this to hotel board, 

 and much is done to amuse the guests. How 

 far this is carried, the reader can form an opin- 

 ion from what took place at the Salzburg con- 

 vention last September, and which I will here 

 relate, translating it from the Leipzig Bienen- 

 zeitung. As there was only a forenoon session 

 on the first day in Salzburg, the afternoon was 

 set apart for sightseeing and amusement. Ac- 

 cordingly the great swarm of bee keepers, 

 over 200 strong, with Dzierzon at the head of 

 the procession, carried on the shoulders of 

 men, made their way to Castle Heilbrunn, in 

 the vicinity of the city. After all the sights 

 were taken in there, the guests were led on 

 by the guides to a celebrated cave called the 

 Stone Theater. The greatest surprise would 

 meet them here. After all had entered, dif- 

 ferently colored lights flashed up all among 

 the rocks, and a grand illumination took place. 

 The sweet strains of (as it seemed) angels' 

 voices singing were heard in the distance, and 

 coming nearer. As soon as this had ceased, 

 the rocks, high up, seemed to open up, and 

 the Dwarf King, in rock colored dress, and 

 with long flowing beard, appeared, and began 

 to address the surprised listeners in poetic 

 strains, welcoming them to Salzburg. No 

 sooner had the king spoken than a multitude 

 of cunningly dressed dwarfs (or perhaps so- 

 called brownies) seemed to emerge from 

 among the rocks. They all carried baskets 

 filled with bouquets and flowers, with which 

 they proceeded to decorate the bee-keepers. 

 The surprise was a perfect one, and created a 

 storm of applause. In company with the hap- 

 py set of youngsters, the return trip to the 

 city was then made. 



There are still other features connected with 

 the Wander-verein that materially add in mak- 

 ing it a success, and wherein its members have 

 a decided advantage over similar organizations 

 here ; namely, they receive every year an ap- 

 propriation from the State, to be used for va- 

 rious purposes, but principally for prizes and 

 premiums ; for it will be remembered that 

 there is always connected with the convention 

 an exhibition of bees, hives, implements, lit- 

 erature, etc. The cities also often donate 

 something for these purposes, sometimes or- 

 namental pieces like silver cups and the like. 



Furthermore the railroad rates are very low, 

 in particular to members of that kind of or- 

 ganization that tend to improve and educate. 

 Since the roads are owned and operated by 

 the government it is a very easy matter to ob- 

 tain these low rates. Even laborers are often 

 carried for almost nothing from one part of 

 the country to another. For instance, should 

 there be a scarcity of laborers in certain dis- 

 tricts at certain times of the year, the govern- 

 ment at once makes an effort to equalize; and 

 after the work is done the laborers are carried 

 back to their homes for an insignificant sum. 



When we take into consideration that dis- 

 tances in Germany and Austria do not amount 

 to much compared with distances here in 



