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DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., OCTOBER 26, 1881. 



No. 43. 



, t UB AMBBiG^ 



mmmum 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



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Bees and Honey in Russia. 



Congressman S. S. Cox, who has 

 spent the summer in Europe, de- 

 scribes his visit to Russia, in a letter 

 to the New York Express of Sept. 29. 

 He thus describes the land and its in- 

 habitants, and avers that the people 

 are greatly interested in bees and the 

 production.of honey. Mr. Cox, in de- 

 scribing a journey from Moscow to the 

 Black Sea, remarks as follows : 



The country reminds one of the Pa- 

 cific overland route, except that here 

 and there are many paddocks piled to- 

 gether in fields for sheep-folds as oc- 

 casion may demand, but the general 

 cultivation, as far as the eye can ob- 

 serve, is that of our prairies. The lit- 

 tle hillocks, made by moles, I suppose, 

 are not so frequent as those of our 

 prairie dogs, but they remind us of 

 our own domain. The soil, where 

 plowed and where it crops out, is as 

 black as the sheep, and in this it is a 

 great contrast to our alkaline plains. 

 we perceive, as far as. the horizon's 

 verge, immense fields of grain and 

 meadows of hay, and these remind us 

 of California and its golden grain 

 grounds of recent date. Black sheep 

 and pied cattle are common. Some of 

 the fields are in flower. What can it 

 be ? Buckwheat, and in such a width 

 of acreage. 



The ancient Scythians, the ances- 

 tors of these Russian Sclavs, were cel- 

 ebrated for two things : 1. The quan- 

 tity of liquor they could throw them- 

 selves outside of without detriment, 

 and, second, the cultivation of honey. 



How do the peasants look V Slo- 

 venly ; the hair long, like that of the 

 classic Scythian of 2,000 years ago- 

 sunburnt and almost dirty in its hue. 



Now and then there is a Tartar face, 

 very much like a Sioux oraKickapoo. 

 The roads are not bad, but it is sum- 

 mer, and the lumbering carts tumble 

 along easily enough. Is there aught 

 as yet to break the monotony ? Yes ; 

 after the second day the (lowers begin 

 to show signs of the southern sun upon 

 the meadows, and some sorghum fields 

 appear with busy bees ; buckwheat 

 still in rich flower, but the never- 

 ceasing wheat in green and gold re- 

 mains to the end to amaze the mind. 



Mr. Cox was not very favorably im- 

 pressed with the country ; everything 

 was of the crudest sort. The country 

 is very productive ; the golden har- 

 vests are magnificent and large, but 

 they are gathered in the most expen- 

 sive way without the aid of machinery 

 — by slow and tedious labor of men, 

 women and children. He says : 



Throughout the 1,500 miles of these 

 levels, we. saw but two labor-saving 

 machines, and these were run by 

 steam, and for thrashing. The short 

 sickle and the flail — women to bind, 

 men to reap ; men to mow, women to 

 rake, and so on to the end, and but 

 few, after all seen, compared with the 

 immense work which seems to have 

 been done by hand. It was not rainy, 

 except for a few hours, when we per- 

 ceived the peasants smoking under 

 their carts and behind the hay-rows. 

 All the long, sunny days this wonder- 

 ful iteration of the harvest and sign of 

 toil, and yet how little to see of the 

 calloused hand and beaded brow with 

 which rhetoric condescends to decor- 

 ate labor. 



This reminds us of many scenes pre- 

 sented to our view when we were in 

 Europe in 1879, such as women draw- 

 ing canal boats in place of horses ; 

 women drawing, while men held the 

 plow, and such like barbarianisms. 

 Civilization seems to be 300 y«ars be- 

 hind that of America, and many of 

 the inhabitants in the rural districts 

 cannot be persuaded that anything 

 exists in the World in advance of that 

 seen around them. Ignorance, super- 

 stition and prejudice have full sway. 

 With such competitors, what is to 

 hinder America from supplying Eu- 

 rope for years to come with all kinds 

 of farm produce including honey. 



®^To prohibit the use of glucose 

 by law would be about as proper as to 

 compel hotel keepers to use first-class 

 meat in hash, or cheap boarding-house 

 keepers to debilitate the butter. If 

 persons wish to buy and eat glucose, 

 they have a right to do so ; we would 

 throw no obstacle in the way of buying 

 it. But we do object to their buying 

 and eating it for pure honey, or syrup, 

 or anything except what it really is. 

 If buyers inquire for glucose, let them 

 have it ; if for honey, sell them honey. 



European International Congress. 



Mons. Ed. Bertrand, editor of the 

 Bulletin D'Apiculteur, in Nyon, Swit- 

 zerland, has kindly sent us the follow- 

 ing Report of the great apicultural 

 Congress of European Bee-Keepers, 

 held at Milan, Italy, on Sept. 15, 16, 

 17 and 18, 1881. 



There were about 250 of the most 

 progressive and scientific apiarists 

 present. Among the foreigners we 

 may mention Dr. F. Kuhl, the repre- 

 sentative of the German Congress of 

 Erfurt, and Mons. Ed. Bertrand, edi- 

 tor of the Bulkntin D' Apiculteur of 

 Nyon, Swisse, and Secretary of the 

 Society of Swisse Roinand d' Apicul- 

 teur and Mr. Pometta, breeder of 

 Italian bees, of Guido. 



Mr. Bertrand reports the proceed- 

 ings as follows : 



Dr. G. Bianehetti, di Ornavasso, a well- 

 known apiarist, and advocate of progres- 

 sive bee culture, was elected president ; 

 and Sig. And. Tartufeii, of Fabiiauo, the 

 most extensive bee-keeper in Italy, who 

 lias 1,500 colonies of bees with a crop of 

 2ti,000 lbs. of honey this season, was 

 elected Vice President. The Secretaries 

 were Count Alfonso Visconti di Saliceto 

 and Pastur Bertini. 



The first essay was by Dr. Grassi on a 

 new bee disease, observed at Messine, 

 (Sicily), and a new parasite of tbe bee, il- 

 lustrated by microscopic views of it. 



Mons. Ed. Bertrand addressed the Con- 

 gress on queen breeding. As Milan is the 

 country of queen breeders, this address 

 caused considerable interest. Mr. Ber- 

 trand remarked ; 



" All agree that we must breed the best 

 queens, but it must he admitted tbat all 

 queens received from Italy and Switzer- 

 land are not equally good— many are weak, 

 and are poor layers, and often die during 

 tbe first year. Tbe journey and change 

 of climate may account for this, in some 

 measure, but breeders are not sufficiently 

 careful in rearing tliem and do not follow 

 the most approved and progressive meth- 

 ods. Complaints are made in Switzerland, 

 Germany and America. The Americans 

 claim that Italian queens bred in that 

 country are superior to those imported 

 from Italy. The following are some of 

 the most important points to be observed 

 in rearing queens : 1. Judicious selection; 

 2. A sufficiency of young bees ; 3. A full 

 colony is necessary to feed the royal 

 larvie ; yet we know that many queens are 

 reared in nuclei. CThe speaker quoted 

 largely from Mr. M. Quinby, German 

 authors, Prof. Sartori, and the new work 

 of Dr. Dubini); 4. the queen should be 

 reared only during honey gathering ; 5. 

 the royal larv;e must be with royal 

 jelly, from the egg. I hope this Congress 

 will f'ullv discuss these points." 



CountBorromeo remarked that much of 

 the weakness of the queens exported 

 might, perhaps, be accounted for by the 

 change of diet and climate. 



Mons. Bertrand asserted that the daugh- 

 ters of imported queens are better than 

 their mothers. 



Dr. Dubini and Prof. Sartori condemned 

 tbe practice of rearing queens in nuclei. 



A long discussion ensued on each of the 

 five points named, and the Congress agreed 

 that they were essential ; adding, how- 

 ever, that royal larva? may be fed in strong 

 nuclei with young bees, if the quantity of 

 unsealed brood given is proportionate to 

 the quantity of young bees, according to 



the method given in "Quinby's New Bee- 

 Keeping." 



Sig. Sartori remarked that such careful 

 breeding should not be expected, tor tbe 

 low prices now paid for queens. 



Mons. Bertrand agreed to this, but sug- 

 gested tbat breeders fix the price accord- 

 ing to tbe care bestowed on rearing 

 queens, as they do in America. 



The Congress passed the following 

 unanamously : 



Resolved, Tbat the Italian Associa- 

 tion send to Mons. Bertrand, for trial, 

 several queens bred in nuclei and several 

 bred in full colonies, Mons. Bertrand to 

 test and report upon them without being 

 informed of their manner of rearing. 



SECOND DAY. 



Upon reassembling, Mons. Bertrand 

 read the following address, in French, by 

 Mr. T. G. Newman, of Chicago, editor of 

 The American Bee Journal, and ex- 

 president of tbe North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society, on 



The Best Bees. 



Mr. President and Members of the In- 

 ternational Congress at Milan, Italy: 

 Please accept our thanks for the 

 honor you conferred upon us in making 

 us an honorary member of the Central 

 Society of Apiculture in Italy, and for 

 your very cordial invitation to be pres- 

 ent on this occasion. 



We often think of our visit to your 

 city in 1S79, and while memory holds 

 its sway, we shall never forget the 

 pleasant hours we spent with Count 

 Barbo, Pres. of the Central Society, 

 and also with Count Alfonso Visconti 

 de Saliceto, the able editor of L'Api- 

 coltore, the organ of that Society, and 

 others of your honorable body, and 

 we exceedingly regret that our duties 

 in connection with the Bee Journal, 

 will not permit us to accept your cor- 

 dial invitation to be present at the 

 International Congress, and to partici- 

 pate in your deliberations, which will, 

 without doubt, be deeply interesting 

 to those present, and of vital import- 

 ance to progressive apiculture the 

 world over. 



From every land where bee-culture 

 is practiced upon scientific principles, 

 comes the important question, " How 

 can the best bees be produced ?" 



While offering a few suggestions, 

 and briefly reviewing the subject of 

 producing the best bees, we shall 

 not attempt to detail the minutiae of 

 breeding them, but will simply offer a 

 few thoughts upon the general topic, 

 for the contemplation of the noted 

 apiarists of the different countries who 

 may be present at the Congress. 



In " the bee-keeping of the future," 

 not only will the best methods of man- 

 agement be adopted, but a superior 

 race of bees will, without a doubt, be 

 developed. 



The whole world is indebted to Italy 

 for the Ligurian race of bees which, it 

 is now admitted by all progressive 

 apiarists, are much superior to the Ger- 

 man or black bees. Five points de- 

 monstrate their superiority — they are 

 more hardy, prolific, gentle, industri- 

 ous, and beautiful— the queen must be 

 prolific, to be able to keep the hive full 

 of bees, to gather the honey harvest 

 when it comes ; the bees must be in- 

 dustrious, to let nothing escape then- 

 vigorous search, while gathering the 

 sweet nectar ; they must be docile, to 



