File:American bee journal (1913) (18118209841).jpg

Title: American bee journal
Identifier: americanbeejourn531913hami (find matches)
Year: 1861 (1860s)
Authors:
Subjects: Bee culture; Bees
Publisher: (Hamilton, Ill. , etc. , Dadant & Sons)
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: UMass Amherst Libraries

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September, 1912. American ?ae Journal tnre. Here 1 visited a bee-keeper who keeps both straw-skeps and movable- frame hives of the Dadaiit pattern. Strange to say, although he considers the frame hive as much superior, from its greater capacity and the manipula- tions it permits, yet like most other European apiarists, he thinks best to keep straw-skeps to furnish increase. His movable-frame colonies swarm but very little, for they have all the room they can fill in large e.xtracting supers. In spring, empty combs are placed in the middle of the brood- chamber to increase the laying of the queen by furnishing her a surplus of empty cells. This gentleman is also a "cirier;" that is to say he is a manufacturer of wax candles. He buys the old combs from bee-keepers and renders them. He bleaches the wax and makes can- dles, very fine ones, with all sorts of wax ornaments, fringes, etc., shaped by the use of pincers while the wax is malleable. His honey is sold in pails, from one kilo (2.2 pounds) up to 10. The pails are friction top, like ours. These are used everywhere. Although we are anxious to reach Switzerland and Italy as soon as possi- ble, we still have to visit a number of French spots. France and Switzer- land are having a very damp and cool summer. It has been cloudy every day, and it rains often. But the roads and byways are so exceedingly line that we rarely dampen more than the sole of our shoes. In spite of the very cool weather, considerable honey is harvested. I see many bees on white clover. They are all the common bee. We have not found any foul brood. But we have heard of the May disease, which is described exactly as the Isle of Wight disease. JOURNEYING TOWARDS SWITZERLANU. We are slowlv wending our way among friends and bee-keepers towards Switzerland and Italy. For the past week we have visited the old haunts of Burgundy, the greatest grape growing districts of Europe. The apiaries are located either in the golden hills above the vineyards, or in the plains where the sainfoin grows. There is white clover in profusion in every pasture, and it is in full bloom: nevertheless the bees are chasing their drones. But in almost every apiary there is a fair crop in the supers. We have found only one apiarist, Mr. Rapinat, who raises honey in sections; everybody else uses either our extracting supers or what they call the horizontal hive, a movable-frame hive containing from 20 to .30 brood-frames, 13x14 or there- about. The entire crop is thus har- vested from the hive-body, no supers. In this instance, the bees are kept on the house roof, in the heart of the city of Chalon. This Mr. Rapinat has a system of Miller super of his own. Instead of a T he uses a strong, smooth strip of steel, rigid enough to support the sec- tions at each end without bending. He will supply us with a photograph of it. He has very fine honey. They are try- ing the Italians for the first time. They hesitate in buying them because of the large number of common bees seat-
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In Mr. Champion's P.uk—the Experimental Apiary, with rive different systems on trial, Dadant. Del-ayens, Voirnot. Cowan, and Cylindrical hives. tered in the villages and hamlets, which will cause mismating. Thus far, however, I have not heard any criticism of the Italians. Every one seems to acknowledge their supe- riority if they can be kept pure and peaceable. This latter virtue is of im- portance in so thickly settled a country. GERC.Y. Before arriving here, where we were welcomed by Mr. E. Champion, whose guests we are, we visited Dijon, and saw there the ancient place of the dukes of Burgundy, containing the marble sculptured tomb of Jean Sans Peur, of the loth century, a most deli- cate piece of architecture which baffles description. The palace is now the Hotel de ville museum (city hall). The past two days we visited, in com- pany with 8 or 10 bee-keepers, two fine castles, with apiaries in each adjoining park. The last visited, that of Darcy, contains in its cellars, as well as in its old armory, tens of thousands of gal- lons of both champagne and Burgundy wines. It seems strange to one accus- tomed to the prohibition ideas of some of our American cities to see wine served on every table. He who would want to eat his meals in a total absti- nence hotel, would have to go hungry. It is but just to say that the French wines, slightly mixed with water, make a very safe and palatable drink on ac- count of the very small proportion of alcohol they contain. In the apiary of Mr. Seger, at Beaune, I saw a feeder made of two wooden troughs, rounded on the inside, instead of the perpendicular walls of our Miller feeder. The inventor says that the bees get into this feeder and climb out again more easily on account of the slanting inner walls. There is some truth in the argument. Our host, Mr. Champion, is a retired business man, who spends his time among his bees, or in watching his crops, fishing in the Saone, or hunting

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