DZIERZON 
293 
apiary in the old-fashioned hives men¬ 
tioned above. His bees did very well in 
them. He, however, was not content with 
these primitive hives, but proceeded to 
make various changes in them, so that he 
might have a more perfect control over 
his bees. These changes gradually led to 
the invention of movable combs, which en¬ 
abled him to take out a full brood-comb, 
pr honeycomb, and insert it in another hive. 
He introduced bars, to which the bees 
built the combs, and, as these wefe 
usually attached to the sides of the 
hives (there being no side bars), 
Dzierzon conceived the idea of open¬ 
ing the hive at the back so as to en¬ 
able him to cut the attachments. At 
the commencement Dzierzon used 
single hives called “Lagers” and. 
“Standers,” but afterward construct¬ 
ed hives to hold two, three, six, or 
eight colonies, in order to economize 
material and space. Owing to the 
advantages thus gained the number 
of his colonies increased in a few 
years to 400, and he was constantly 
making new hives and planting out- 
apiaries in the neighboring villages. 
He had twelve of them, but his api¬ 
ary at Karlsmarkt was chiefly used 
for observations and experiments, 
and, after his introduction of the 
Italian race,* for breeding these bees 
and keeping them pure. This apiary 
was visited by numerous people de¬ 
sirous of increasing their knowledge 
in beekeeping, especially by school¬ 
masters, many of whom came by de¬ 
sire and at the expense of the Gov¬ 
ernment. He was at all times ready 
to communicate the results of his ex¬ 
perience to his visitors; he also made 
known his views in the Frauendorf Journal, 
which enjoyed a large circulation at that 
time.f These articles were afterward col¬ 
* Captain Baldenstein, when stationed in Italy, 
was the first to notice the exceeding industry of the 
Italian bee. When he retired from the army he 
settled in Switzerland, and procured a colony from 
Italy in September, 1843. His observations im¬ 
pelled Dzierzon to make an effort to procure the 
Italian bee; and by the aid of the Austrian Agri¬ 
cultural Society he succeeded in -obtaining, late in 
February, 1853, a colony from Mira, near Venice. 
Dzierzon bestowed much pains in maintaining the 
purity of his Italian bees, and thirty years after 
the first introduction he exhibited at Neustadt, near 
Vienna, a perfectly pure descendant from his orig¬ 
inal stock. 
lect-ed and published in the form of a pam¬ 
phlet entitled “Pfarrer Dzierzon’s Improv¬ 
ed Method of Beekeeping.” This pamphlet 
was very incomplete, and Dr. Dzierzon was 
induced to publish his views in a more 
complete form, which work, after passing 
thru several editions, was published under 
the title of “Rational Beekeeping,” the 
latest and most complete edition of which 
appeared in the year 1878. In 1880 this 
edition was translated into English by H. 
Dieck and S. Studderd, and edited by 
C. N. Abbott, who then introduced it to 
British beekeepers. The last book he wrote, 
“Der Zwillingstock,” was published in 
1890. From 1854 to 1856 he published 
t Several of the governments of Europe took 
great interest in spreading among their people a 
knowedge of Dzierzon’s system of beekeeping. Prus¬ 
sia furnished monthly a number of persons from 
different parts of the kingdom with the means of 
acquiring a knowledge of this system; while the 
Bavarian government prescribed instruction in 
Dzierzon’s theory and practice of bee culture as a 
part of the regular course of studies in its teachers’ 
seminaries. 
jr, 
