84 PARTHENOGENESIS 



I did not allow myself to be deterred from entering upon these 

 investigations. 



I was, however, actually astonished at the Bee-material which 

 offered itself to me in Seebach, for the masses of Bee-colonies, 

 as well as their judicious arrangement, so favourable to observa- 

 tions of every kind, surpassed all my expectations. I found 

 104 Dzierzon hives overflowing with honey and bees, destined 

 for hybernation, and indeed distributed in various ways in eight 

 places in a spacious orchard, amongst which I was particularly 

 surprised at the pavilion containing 28 bee-hives, already 

 frequently referred to in the Bienenzeitung. The distance of 

 these eight Bee-establishments from each other was never more 

 than 40 feet Rhenish. Amongst these hives there were nine 

 genuine Italian colonies of Bees, the number of which might 

 have been much greater, if, as Herr von Berlepsch asserted, 

 seventy Italian mothers had not been furnished by him to other 

 Bee-keepers, and the hives generally very much prejudiced by 

 the various scientific experiments*. What has been of particu- 

 lar service to Von Berlepsch in his Bee-keeping is the assistance 

 of his servant Giinther, who, being endowed with excellent 

 talents, has been instructed by Berlepsch himself in the mystery 

 of Bee-keeping, and has approved himself in a distinguished 

 manner j*. 



I immediately set to work and examined a great number of 

 female eggs, with which the great Bee-establishment of Herr 

 von Berlepsch still furnished me in large quantities. It first 

 occurred to me to make myself well acquainted with the organi- 



t What advantages may be obtained with the assistance of Dzierzon's hives, 

 by assiduity and attention, and especially by the proper comprehension of the 

 mode of life of Bees, will be seen by the dexterity with which Herr von 

 Berlepsch manages his bee-hives even in a district which is poor in honey, as 

 Seebach is described by himself (see bienenzeitung, 1855, p. 3). According to 

 Berlepsch's assertion, every one of his hives would be capable of giving him 

 annually 30 pounds of honey and \\ pound of wax, according to which 3120 

 pounds of honey and 130 pounds of wax, of the value of fully 400 dollars, 

 might accrue to him from the whole 104 hives. 



* This excellent assistant, who, as his master asserts, and I can testify, 

 may be placed beside Huber's servant, Francois Burnens (see F. Huber, Nou- 

 velles Observ.), has unfortunately been compelled to leave Seebach for the 

 present, to pass his years of military service. 



