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741 



GRAVENHORST. 



A Sketch of llic Man and Ili§ 

 Jfletliods of Work. 



Writteyi for Oleanliigs in Bee-Culture 



BV L. STACHELHACSEN. 



The name of the German bee-vet- 

 eran, C. J. H. Graveuhorst (born Sept. 

 26, 1823), is well known to Aniericans. 

 The teachers of Germany educate not 

 only the people in the science of read- 

 ing and writing, but many of them are 

 likewise excellent amateur bee-keep- 

 ers, silkworm raisers, etc., etc. ; so, 

 too, our friend kept bees as long as he 

 acted as teacher. 



In 1863, a disease of the ears made 

 it necessary to (juit teaching, and from 

 this time he kept bees in the city of 

 Braunschweig, as a specialist, and for 

 the support of his family. Near that 

 city are the wide plains of Lusneburg, 

 with the honey-yielding he;Uh, where 

 bee-keeping lias been a profession for 

 centuries. Here the old heath bee- 

 keeper wanders with one hundred or 

 more straw-skeps from one hone}-flow 

 to the other until late in the fall ; and 

 they are masters in their trade. Here 

 friend Gravenhorst got his first educa- 

 tion as bee-keeper. 



As the movable comb was more and 

 more used, he used hives after Dzier- 

 zon and Berlepsch. He saw the ad- 

 vantages of these hives, but his income 

 ■was not so large as he wished. In 

 man}' I'espects the old straw-skeps 

 were better. So the aim to unite the 

 advantage^ of movable-frames with 

 the advantages of the straw-skeps 

 caused Gravenhoi'st to invent his hive, 

 the " bogenstuelper," and he made it 

 public in 1865. 



Here I will remark, that Mr. Gra- 

 venhorst's hive was the first one in 

 Germany by which an}' frame could be 

 taken out without removing a number 

 of other ones, as in our Langstroth 

 hive, and Mr. Gravenhorst has always 

 spoken and written for this principle. 



As to his originality, his whole man- 

 agement and many things finalh- 

 adopted here in the United States 

 were known and used by Mr. Graven- 

 horst first, although in another form. 

 On the other hand, his knowledge of 

 the English language enabled him to 

 study onr American methods, and two 

 voyages to England showed to him tlie 

 progress of ajiieulture in that country, 

 ftnd he did not fail to use wliat he 

 learned, of course modified for his con- 

 trivances. 



For a long time he was the only bee- 

 keeper in Gerniany who reported in 



bee-papers the advance in the United 

 States and England. His experiences 

 are laid down in many articles for bee- 

 papers. 



About 1873 Mr. Gravenhorst pub- 

 lished the first edition of his book, 

 Der Practische Imker {The Practical 

 Bec-Keeper). It was merely a pamph- 

 let describing his hive and manage- 

 ment. In 1878 the second edition 

 came out, enlarged to a manual for 

 the bee-keeper, and now I have be- 

 fore me the fourth edition, 1887, beau- 

 tifully illustrated, and much enlarged 

 and improved. 



On the first of October, 1883, he 

 started a new bee-paper, lllustrierle 



C. J. H. Gravenhorst. 



Bienenzeiluiig, by which he gives to 

 his readers the experiences made in 

 his own large apiar}', as well as the 

 most important improvements in api- 

 culture in the wide world. This bee- 

 paper is now one of the best, if not 

 the best, in Germany. 



In 1884 he was driven away from 

 his home. His neighbors did not like 

 bees, and Mr. Gravenhorst was or- 

 dered to remove his. He appealed 

 from court to court, and the German 

 bee-keepers stood nobly by him, help- 

 ing to pay the expenses ; but the law- 

 suit was lost, and he sold his old home 

 in the city of Braunschweig and moved 

 his bees to Storbeckshof, near the val- 

 ley of the Elbe. 



If we look in his book we will see 

 many engravings which seem strange 

 to us. But if we read the book, and 

 if we know the honej' resources of his 

 country, we are bound to saj- that Mr. 

 Gravenhorst's hive and management 

 are not to be surpassed for his locality. 

 His hive is especially adapted for 

 wandering and for quick handling. 

 Manj' manipulations are done by hives 

 instead of by frames, the Barac idea 



represented now by Mr. Heddon, but 

 in quite a diflcrent wa}'. 



The American bee-keeper will be 

 astonished if he sees that Mr. Graven- 

 horst's liive is turned upside down to 

 take out the frames. This is at first a 

 concession to the custom of the heath 

 bee-keeper ; but many advantages are 

 gained thereby. Many times we see 

 all we need by a glimpse from below 

 by lifting the hive only a few inches 

 on one side. If the colony builds some 

 drone-comb here, we have a sure sign 

 that the swarming fever is commenc- 

 ing. The Heddon and similar inverti- 

 ble hives will show us these advan- 

 tages by and by. 



The cover of the hive is tight, and 

 no mat or cloth or quilt is to be re- 

 moved. This is an advantage, es- 

 pecially in the spring, after a revision 

 has been necessary, because not a bit 

 of the warm air of the hive can es- 

 cape. The objections against this hive 

 are, that for a short and very good 

 honey-flow it is too small, correspond- 

 ing to the one story and a half of the 

 Simplicity only. Again, it cannot be 

 enlarged, and thereby is not practicable 

 for comb honey in sections. 



In his management we find many 

 things quite ditlerent from ours. In 

 conformity to the honey-flow, and the 

 usage of the heath bee-keepers, Mr. 

 Gravenhorst increases his colonies in 

 the spring, and unites again in the 

 fall. He teaches, and has for many 

 years, that swarms should be hived on 

 starters only — an idea which finds ad- 

 vocates now among our best American 

 bee-masters. For this purpose his 

 artificial swarms are quite similar to 

 the natural swarms ; and one of his 

 methods of forming artificial swarms 

 is quite similar to Mr. Doolittle's 

 method of forming nuclei. This chap- 

 ter of his book is very interesting 



Of importance is the chapter on 

 moving bees from one pasturage to 

 another. Tliis is entirely new for the 

 United'States, and we could find no 

 better teacher than Mr. Gravenhorst, 

 who for many years has taken his 200 

 to 6U0 hives twice every year to 

 another location, and with the best 

 success, too. 



In short, Mr. Gravenhorst is original 

 in ever}' respect. His aim is to ad- 

 vance bee-keeping to a pursuit giving 

 a living to the manager, and to sys- 

 tematize the labor. In this respect he 

 has done more than any other bee- 

 keeper in (ieriiiany ; and we can truly 

 say tliat Mr. (iravenhorst is now the 

 greatest master in practical bee-keep- 

 ing in Germany. His crops of honey 

 are counted by tons — a rare case in 

 Germany. 



One point I wish especially to men- 

 tion, because he gives a glimpse of the 

 character of the man. Many ihven. 



