THE AMERICAJN liKK JOURISIAL. 



503 



five frames for wintering, I prefer to 

 have them built a little thicker than 

 1% inches. 

 Mechanicsburg,© Ills. 



Grayenhorat's Illustrated Bee Journal. 



AiitoMograiiliy of Baroii Vou Berlepscli. 



C. J. H. GRAVBNHORST. 



August, Baron von Berlepsch, was 

 born at Seebach, near Langensalza in 

 Thuringia, June 2S, 1815. Being a 

 precocious boy he made up his mind 

 while still a pupil of the Gymnasium 

 (High School), to study ancient classic 

 philology, but his father objected and 

 compelled him to study jurisprudence. 

 He became reconciled to the science 

 of law at the Universities which he 

 attended, in so far as to study corpus 

 juris industriously, and with philoso- 

 phical e.xactness. But his father 

 further insisted on his practicing law 

 in the hope of seeing his son some day 

 become Minister of Justice. The dull 

 routine of work, however, disgusted 

 the young lawyer in a few vears, in 

 consequence of which he quitted the 

 law and devoted his time to scientific 

 studies in Munich until the death of 

 his father, which occurred in 1841. 

 From 1841 till 1858 he lived on the 

 family estate of Seebach, occupying 

 himself with bee-keeping, pomology, 

 and his favorite study of classic 

 philology. From 1858 to December, 

 1866, when he married at the ad- 

 vanced age of fifty-one, he resided at 

 Gotha, and from that time he and his 

 wife had a most happy home at 

 Coburg. 



I have the original of the above 

 memoir before me. being in the hand- 

 writing of the Baron's well known 

 consort. Lady Lina von Berlepsch, 

 who is also an authoress on apiculture. 

 The Baron either dictated to his wife 

 this biographical sketch or communi- 

 cated it to her for the purpose of 

 having it written down. The words 

 interlined in the printed text are 

 additions made by the Baron himself. 

 This memoir dated from the year 1868, 

 when I published an article in the 

 Qartenlaube headed " The Leaders of 

 German Bee-Keepers," with the like- 

 nes.ses of Dr.Dzierzon, Von Berlepsch, 

 Kleine and Von Siebold, accompanied 

 by biographical notes. Before com- 

 piling this article I applied for par- 

 ticulars to Von Berlepsch, with whom 

 I was in active correspondence at 

 that time. 



Baron von Berlepsch took an inter- 

 est in bees when still a child, and 

 even kept a few colonies when at the 

 University. On his taking possession 

 of the estate of Seebach, it was his 

 intention to give special attention to 

 bee-keeping, for which purpose he 

 established a large apiary there. He 

 first used hives with immovable 

 combs. When at that time Dr. 

 Dzierzon invented hives with mov- 

 able combs, he watched with the 

 greatest concern this revolution in 

 apiculture, and declared it to be a 

 calamity which would do a great deal 

 of injury to bee-keeping. However, 

 he paid a visit to Dzierzon, and hav- 



ing convinced him.self of the correct- 

 ness of the method of the latter, he 

 became a warm supporter of Dzier- 

 zon's theory, which had hitherto been 

 strongly opposed by him ; he, indeed, 

 became the most zealous advocate of 

 the hive with movable combs ; and 

 his letters on apiculture, which ap- 

 peared in the JSich.ftadt Bienenzeitung, 

 and which silenced Dzierzon's oppo- 

 nents, largely contributed to the suc- 

 cess of the new system. That Von 

 Berlepsch carried out a great many 

 valuable investigations in regard to 

 the economy of bees, and that he is 

 the inventor of the frames, and of 

 the so-called Berlepsch hive and the 

 pavilions, are well-known facts. 



In 1858 he parted with his Seebach 

 estate and gave up bee-keeping, but 

 he continued to take a deep interest 

 in bees up to the time of his death. 

 From Coburg he removed to Munich, 

 where he died on Aug. 17, 1877. 



Von Berlepsch is the author of a 

 large work on bees, entitled, " Bees 

 and bee-keeping in districts poor in 

 mellifluous plants, cousidered from 

 the present state of the theory and 

 practice of apiculture ;" the first edi- 

 tion of which appeared in 1860. This 

 book is very beautifully written, and 

 quite fascinated the readers at the 

 time. Of course it is no longer in 

 accordance with the requirements of 

 the present time, still it contains 

 much of lasting value and of deep 

 interest to all thoughtful bee-keepers. 

 Braunchwelg, Germany. 



For t&e Amencaji Bee JoumaL 



Taiii Colonies of Bees. 



W. J. ROBERTS. 



A vei7 self-satisfied correspondent 

 in noting an article or two on the 

 above subject, says : " Now the way 

 is to find out if such property is tax- 

 able, and that can only be done by 

 inquiring of the ablest and most 

 learned in the law, and not those who 

 have a mere surface knowledge of il." 

 And then the next issue (June 28), as 

 though the whole bee-keeping fra- 

 ternity had asked him, as that ablest 

 and learned man, the question, he 

 informs the world that they are not 

 taxable, without a special law to that 

 effect. Saying that they are not tax- 

 able without a special law, is nothing 

 more than saying they are not taxable 

 unless they are taxed. 



The Supreme Court of the United 

 States, in Nathan vs. Louisiana. 8 

 IIow. 73, held that " the taxing power 

 of a State is one of its attributes of 

 sovereignty, and where there has 

 been no compact with the Federal 

 Government, nor cession of jurisdic- 

 tion for the purposes specified in the 

 constitution, this pmoer reaches all the 

 property and business in the States.'' 

 That power is exercised by legisla- 

 tion, designating the property to be 

 taxed, and authorizing some agent of 

 the State to levy and collect the tax. 

 Until the power is exercised, it is as 

 though the power did not exist. 



It is silly to say there must be 

 special legislation in the case of bees. 



All that is neces.sary is some legisla- 

 tion. In each State in the Union, all 

 property therein is covered by the 

 general leglislation on taxation. Such 

 property as the legislature has de- 

 cided shall be taxed is designated in 

 one way or another. All other prop- 

 erty is expressly or by necessary im- 

 plication exempt. 



All that any bee-keeper has to do 

 to determine whether his bees are 

 taxable property is to consult the 

 statute law of his State. Accordingly 

 as he shall find bees included or ex- 

 cluded in the enumeration of personal 

 property to be taxed, will the ques- 

 tion be determined. There is no oc- 

 casion for consulting " the ablest and 

 most learned in the law " of the bee- 

 keepers of this country. 



Keokuk. o. Iowa, July 29, 1886. 



[We think that quite enough has 

 been said on the subject of taxation, 

 and we now ask our correspondents 

 to desist, at least for the present. 

 The one who asked the question 

 which started this discussion ought 

 to be quite satisfied by this time.— Ed.] 



For tue American Bee Joumafc. 



Honey-Dew on Wheat. 



J. O. SHEARMAN, {100—135.) 



One of my neighbors reported to 

 me that my bees were working in 

 swarms on his wheat, in the time of 

 basswood flow, which was from July 

 6 to the 16th here, this year. Then 

 after the wheat was cut the bees 

 worked on the stubble. Do any of 

 the fraternity know of a case similar ? 

 The bees would fly up in swarms 

 ahead of him as he walked through 

 the field (they did not offer to sting). 

 The honey-dew was so thick all over 

 the wheat while he was binding that 

 it stuck to his hands and clothes like 

 gum. No aphides or plant-lice were 

 present, but the wheat was a poor 

 crop, not well filled. Some patches a 

 rod or two across would not have a 

 handful of grain, although the straw 

 was of good growth— the outcome of 

 the drouth, as we had no rain worth 

 mentioning for six weeks previously, 

 and very warm days with a few cool 

 nights at the time of the honey-dew. 

 I did not hear of it until it was past, 

 or would have gone to the spot to 

 investigate it more particularly, but 

 my neighbor is a responsible man, 

 and I was busy at the end of that 

 flow, basswood coming at the same 

 time. 



I did not find any honey of a 

 spurious nature or bad taste in the 

 combs from which we extracted a 

 few days afterwards ; it all tasted like 

 basswood and clover mixed. 



That was a mile or more east of us, 

 and at the same date IJ^ miles west, 

 another neighbor reported that bees 

 were at work for several mornings 

 (from 7 to 9 o'clock mostly) on a wal- 

 nut tree so plentifully that bethought 

 there was a swarm alighting there, 

 and going near by to see, noticed that 



