16 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



In the Summer of 1851 I ascertained that bees could 

 be made to work in glass hives, exposed to the full light 

 of day. This discovery procured me the pleasure of an 

 acquaintance with Rev. Dr. Berg, then pastor of a 

 Reformed Dutch Church, in Philadelphia. From him I 

 first learned that a Prussian clergyman of the name of 

 Dzierzon,* was attracting the attention of crowned heads 

 by his discoveries in the management of bees. Before he 

 communicated to me the particulars of these discoveries, 

 I explained to Dr. Berg my own system and showed him 

 my hive. He expressed great astonishment at the won- 

 derful similarity in our methods of management, neither 

 of us having any knowledge of the labors of the other. 



Our hives he found to diiFer in some very important 

 respects. In Dzierzon's hive, the combs not being 

 attached to movable frames but to bars, cannot be 

 removed without cutting. In my hive, any comb may be 

 taken out without removing the others ; whereas in the 

 Dzierzon hive, it is often necessary to cut and remove 

 many combs to get access to a particular one ; thus if 

 the tenth from the end is to be removed, nine must be 

 taken out. The German hive does not furnish the surplus 

 honey in a form the most salable in our markets, or 

 admitting of safe transportation in the comb. Notwith- 

 standing these disadvantages, it has achieved a great 

 triumph in Germany, and given a new impulse to the 

 cultivation of bees. 



. The following letter from Samuel Wagner, Esq., Cashier 

 of the Bank of York, in York, Pennsylvania, will show the 

 results obtained in Germany by the new system of man- 

 agement, and his estimate of the superior value of my hive 

 to those there in use. 



* Pronounced Tseertsone. 



