INTRODUCTION. 21 



The highly prosperous condition of his colonies is 

 attested by the Report of the Secretary of the Annual Api- 

 arian Convention which met in his vicinity last spring. This 

 Convention, the fourth which has been held, consisted of 

 1 12 experienced and enthusiastic bee-keepers from various 

 districts of Germany and neighboring countries, and among 

 them were some who when they assembled were strong 

 opposers of his system. 



They visited and personally examined the Apiaries of 

 Mr. Dzierzon. The report speaks in the very highest terms 

 of his success, and of the manifest superiority of his system 

 of management. He exhibited and satisfactorily explained 

 to his visitors his practice and principles ; and they remark- 

 ed, with astonishment, the singular docility of his bees, and 

 the thorough control to which they were subjected. After a 

 full detail of the proceedings, the Secretary goes on to say : — 



" Now that T have seen Dzierzon's method practically 

 demonstrated, I must admit that it is attended with fewer 

 difficulties than I had supposed. With his hive and sys- 

 tem of management it would seem that bees become at once 

 more docile than they are in other cases. I consider his 

 system the simplest and best means of elevating bee-culture 

 to a profitable pursuit, and of spreading it far and wide over 

 the land — especially as it is peculiarly adapted to districts in 

 which the bees do not readily and regularly swarm. His 

 eminent success in re-establishing his stock after suffering 

 so heavily from the devastating pestilence — in short the re- 

 cuperative power of the system demonstrates conclusively, 

 that it furnishes the best, perhaps the only means of rein- 

 staling bee-culture to a profitable branch of rural economy. 



Dzierzon modestly disclaimed the idea of having attained 

 perfection in his hive. He dwelt rather upon the truth and 

 importance of his theory and system of management.'" 



