196 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



| unc 



jestic sanctuary, as Jerusalem is 

 called by the natives, the apiary, ac- 

 cording to the archaic system, was all 

 tucked up before the solid arch in 

 masonry, with a dark passage behind 

 to work the bees. 



Messrs. D. A. Jonei and Frank 

 Benton rani.' over from America in 

 search of new races of lues, and un- 

 der their instructions the dark pas- 

 sages .mil archways were discarded 

 and the bar-frame hive and American 

 i methods introduced by their 

 disciples, Baldensperger brothers. 

 (This was in 1880.— Editor.) 



And the light was so clear that 

 Ehmad-en-Nahale, our indigenous 

 beemaster. was never heard of again. 

 He continued to knock the coffee in 

 a dark street in Jerusalem, as he and 

 his forefathers had done for genera- 

 tions. Moslems hold fast to their 

 methods. It is profanation to grind 

 the coffee, just as it is profanation 

 to walk into sanctuaries with shoes 

 on. "Take off thy shoes from thy 

 feet, for the ground where thou 

 standest is holy." The good Nahale 

 used to come occasionally in two sea- 

 sons, swarming and gathering the 

 honey. In April he would gather the 

 swarms, gently showing us the Entire 

 or Duchess, as he called the mother- 

 bee, and in August he took out heavy 

 combs of honey, which he laid on 

 plates with great satisfaction, and a 

 sweet smile. He was very sober in 

 words. 1. "The bees did not like 

 harsh persons." 2. Perhaps he pre- 

 ferred to keep the "secret success" 

 for himself. Quietly he gathered 

 cow's dung, filled with it a small 

 pitcher, put a burning coal to the fuel 

 and patiently blew till a tolerable 

 quantity of smoke gave him security 

 against the bees. He did not live to 

 see our modern inventions, smokers, 

 extractors, comb foundation and the 

 like, and I am afraid he could not 

 have tolerated having his pets taken 

 • mi of jar hives and introduced into 

 wood* n boxes, and in the "pen air. 



Poor Nahale! Dear tradition! 

 Though established on a high and 

 dry plateau, almost in the center of 



Judea, I elms, the dry, as the name in- 

 dicates, was a comparatively good 

 honej region. Big apiaries set up in 

 the old fashion by the Greek monks, 

 in the environs of Jerusalem, gave 

 good crops to the convents. Honey 

 was kept for church grandees there, 

 as it was only known by the better 

 .lasses in town. There was a time 

 when honey was more abundant in 

 Jerusalem, since there existed still 

 the "Honey-man's street," Haret-el- 

 Assali. 



In the American Bee Journal for 

 December, 1917, a list of bee places is 

 given in the United States. Palestine, 

 though verj small, has 6 or 7 names 

 reminding one of bees and beekeep 

 ing. It measures hardly 25,000 squari 

 kilometres and has a population of 

 one million, or thereabouts, whereas 

 the United States, spreading over 

 9,383,000 square kilometres, with a 

 population of over 100,000,000, has 73 

 bee places named. The names are 

 spread from Baalbek in the north to 

 the environs of Hebron in the south 

 1. Nahleh (the bee), near Baalbek; 

 2 Daburiah (the hornet retreat), near 



i 

 of the foi 



r the old pear-shaped hives piled up under 

 es in the Holy Land 



Nazareth; 3. El Asaliyeh (the 

 honeyed, in the Hauran. beyond Jor- 

 dan ; 4. Deir-en-Nahel (the convent 

 of the bees), near Jaffa Latrone ; S 

 Asalin (the honey men), near Gath, 

 Deir Imheisom, in Philistia; 6, Naha- 

 lin (the beekeepers), southwest oi 

 Bethlehem; 7. Deir-el-Asal (the con- 

 vent of the honey), between Gaza 

 and Hebron. 



The town of Jerusalem was some- 

 what protected against the warm 



east winds, by the Mount of Olives, 

 which winds have the faculty or dry- 

 ing up the nectar. The wind known 

 as Sirocco, is more properly called 

 Sharkie by natives. West winds 

 blowing across the Mediterranean 

 bring moisture and clouds which 

 spread Xada, or dew, over the hills 

 and greatly help the honey plants. 

 On rare occasions the hot Sinum 

 (poisoned south wind) blowing from 

 the Sinaitic peninsula, dries up flow- 

 ers and plants, and the honey season 

 is usually a failure in consequence. 



On warm days when the weather is 

 calm, the bees find their waj over 

 the valleys of Jehoshaphat, Cedron 

 and llinnom and forage on all kinds 

 of honey plants on the environing 

 hills of Olivet. Siloam, etc. Olive 

 :i,< and tit; trees, which grow usti- 



allj all around, have but very little 



honey, while almond trees around 

 tin Mount of Olives and Bethany, as 



well as down the Cedron, give an 

 early lick in February and March 

 Hawthorn flowers, a little later, help 

 the bees in their swarming propensi- 

 tii \.S t he t' IV n is built almost ! m 



the watershed between the Meditei 

 i.iii, -.in and Head seas, there are but 

 pi in^s in the vicinity and they 

 are several miles from the walled en- 

 closure, Bees must look for tile 

 :> \ w at er to raise brood in the 



pools of Hezekiah, Bethesda and Ma- 

 millary as well as m private gardens 

 The disease-carrying mosquito i Ano- 

 pheles) lives and thrives about tin- 

 on waters. 



Beekeeping was mostly confined to 



open spaces .ivmhisI the interior of 



tlu walls, eithei toward the north. 



or the large gardens on Zion. The 



