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 differ 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 liive 
to those there in use. 
* Pronounced Tseertaone. 
