JUNE 1, 1914 



Fig. 1. — The elder Baldensperger sitting on the arch over the old hives in Solomon's castle. 



Oui' first apiaries, in the old castle of 

 Solomon (Fig. 1), stuck up against the 

 walls, had a i^assage behind for the extract- 

 ing of honey. To see the bees at work, or to 

 brush away reptiles and other vermin, and 

 inspect them from the outside, we had to 

 climb along the protruding stones of the 

 castle to reach them — Fig. 2. Of course the 

 old methods gave little returns compared 

 with what we get now ; but the expenses in 

 the olden days were also reduced to almost 

 nothing. 



The arches and the castle were not private 

 property, and no one knew to whom they 

 belong'ed. Bees have been there for genera- 

 tions, and the owner of the bees was also 

 owner of the whole. The old police agent, 

 a Kurdish cavalryman, did not care nor 

 know who was the real owner, and matters 

 passed along in the most primitive ways. 

 The different archways often had different 

 owners; hives were bought and sold on the 

 spot, and thus changed hands; but still one 

 partner was always the same old man — one 

 who had learned beekeeping in patriarchal 

 ways, and was the patriarch of the whole 

 fraternity. When an archway containing 

 some 70 to 80 hives gave a return of 300 to 

 500 pounds of honey and about 50 pounds 

 of wax, it was considered quite a good 

 affair. The police agent received a few 

 pounds of honey, and all was said and dore 

 till next year's har^'est. The swarming sea- 

 son being only work, the police agent cared 

 little for the proceedings.. The highly fla- 



vored thyme honey of the mountains of 

 Judah (same as Hymettus honey) being 

 from the same flowers, fetched about 85 

 cents for 6^2 pounds. Expenses, except 

 for the transportation of empty jars, and 

 carrying away the filled ones, were greatly 

 reduced, as bees were never moved, stuck in 

 as they were for generations, and probably 

 they will remain there as long as the owners, 

 now fellahin of Bethlehem and Urtas, con- 

 tinue their old ways. 



Our attention was called to new methods 

 by the British Bee Journal, but was further 

 developed by Gleakings about 1880, and 

 since then Gleanings and Mr. Root's arti- 

 cles have been in our homes, whether in Pal- 

 estine, Algeria, or France; also smokers, 

 extractors, comb - foundation machines, 

 either direct or indirect, by way of Pans, 

 are still the only ones used, and will be, till 

 better ones can be produced. 



When the bar-frames were adopted the 

 arches were abandoned to the fellahin, and 

 field apiculture was introduced by the Bal- 

 densperger brothers. As roads were yet 

 scarce, or at all events led only along the 

 highways to Jerusalem, Jaffa, Bethlehem, 

 Hebron, etc., bees were carried to and fro 

 on camelbaek. Often the indolent drivers 

 had to be looked for at the fairs in some 

 small town, where also terra-cotta hives 

 were for sale. But the first transportations 

 of movable and bar-frame hives were effect- 

 ed on the heads of women who were also 

 recruited in the market. The first move, 



