File:American bee journal (1914) (18090669596).jpg

306

September, 1914.

September. 1914.

307

and supers which enable us to secure
our large crops ?
We did not ask how much honey
they extract in a day. Neither did we
dare tell them how much zve extract,
for fear of unbelief. Labor being
cheap, time is no object, in Switzer-
land, and we often saw a whole family
of seven or eight, men, women and
children, exceedingly busy in an acre
of wheat. What would they say if they
saw our 40-acre fields cut by one man,
with two or four horses, and a binder,
in three or four days ? But the Swiss
raise fine grain, and whatever they do
is done well.
While in Zurich we were more than
once sorry of not being able to speak
German. But we found enough people
who spoke French or English fluently
to get along fairly well.
We had a most enjoyable visit, for
all these people treated us with wonder-
ful hospitality, as well in fact as if they
had known us for years. With the
French Swiss, we rather expected a
hearty welcome, for we had already a
mutual acquaintance, and were
not disappointed. But the hearty recep-

tion of the German Swiss was espe-
cially appreciated, since it was unex-
pected.
On our return from the mountain we
met the renowned Dr. Kramer, the
president of the German-Swiss Bee
Association, who was thought by his
friends to be still on his summer vaca-
tion in the Engadine. He made us
promise to visit him the next morning.
We did.
Dr. Kramer is a strong personality.
He has been called by critics " the Czar
of Swiss bee-culture." He is the posi-
tive head of a strong association. At
the last report received by us, it num-
bered 9543 members, divided into 116
sections. This is aside of the Société
Romande of western Switzerland. They
have 36 experiment stations. But these
contained only 64 colonies in all, too
small a number for practical compara-
tive experiments.
They also have a mutual insurance
against foulbrood in which 121,702
colonies are insured. They have paid
in losses about $4000, with about $360
left in their treasury, and the sum paid
per colony for insurance annually is

only one cent. Their association had
on Dec. 31, 1912, a capital of 41,480
francs, or practically $8000. They had
in addition a relief fund of 7055 francs
($1350) to indemnify the members who
suffer from disaster, floods,avalanches,
etc., common in Switzerland. This is
an admirable organization of which
the Swiss may well beproud.and which
we ought to imitate.
As might be expected, Dr. Kramer
had much to say to me concerning the
improvement of races, for he knew that
my aim was to investigate this matter.
He is entirely opposed to the introduc-
tion of the Italian bee, and says they
are unfit for the climate of Switzer-
land. He is satisfied that their mating
stations, in narrow isolated valleys are
preparing great progress. I suggested
that a propaganda for the removal of
drone-comb from inferior or undesir-
able colonies and the replacing of it
with worker-comb would help greatly
in preventing undesirable matings.
But he assured me that the mass of
beekeepers were not progressive
enough for that work.
Dr. Kramer believes in in-and-

in breeding to emphasize the qualities of
a race, and it is in this direction that
the efforts of the mating stations are
bent. To my argument that nature
seeks cross-fertilization, he replied by
giving the instance of wheat and other
cereals as self-fertilizers.
However, not all the beekeepers
agree with this. Neither is their breed-
ing of the pure black race of bees uni-
form. I saw more or less mixture of
Italians wherever I went. Mating sta-
tions as now existing are objected to
by many on account of insufficient
isolation which prevents the positive
control of matings. Mr. Spuhler, who
is a very experienced beekeeper, as-
sure'd me that he had known of mat-
ings at a distance of 6 kilometers.
As this is only 3³/₄ miles, there is nothing
astonishing about it. [See the article
from Mr. Spuhler on page 311.—Ed.]
You will now have to follow us in a touris
excursion. On the evening of
Aug. 25, we went to Neuhausen, near
Schaffhouse, at the famous falls of the
Rhine. We have seen Niagara Falls,
the falls of the Yellowstone and the
Yosemite, which are all greater in

some way than the falls of the Rhine.
Yet the latter have a peculiar beauty all
their own and we lingered there, came
back to them after leaving them and
lingered again. We could have re-
mained there a week and enjoyed their
grandeur. The on'y thing that mars
them is what we find at Niagara Falls,
factories with industrial use of a part
of the water. Nothing of this sort
yet exists either at the Yellowstone or at
the Yosemite. These will probably re-
main wild in spite of the ambition of
electrical engineers. The greatness of
the canon of the Yellowstone places
this fall at the head of all.
The big castle at the Rhine Falls has
been put to mercenary uses. It is con-
trolled by venders of trinkets and
souvenirs of all descriptions. That sort
of thing is objectionable, and the gov-
ernment ought to take the matter in
hand. The beauties of nature should
belong to the public without hin-
drances.
Back towards the south we came
and landed at Lucerne. Stopped at the
Alpina hotel, where the usual breakfast
of coffee, milk, butter and honey was
served to us. I have not yet said any-
thing about the quality of Swiss honey.
It was a bad year in which to judge it.
The only places where we saw really
white honey were at the hotels, and we
were told that in many cases it was a
manufactured article. But it was good,
and I would have accepted it as pure in
most instances. The honey crop of
1913 was dark and strong. But the
price is high, something like 16 to 25
cents per pound for extracted honey.
We took a long carriage ride around
Lucerne. Saw several monoplanes
flying about, for they have a large avia-
tion field, and you can get a half hour
ride for $20. we were told. Much as
we would like to fly, it did not tempt us.
We thought the country most beautiful.
Small house apiaries caught our eye
frequently. Everything is neat and
everything was full of bloom. Economy
shows everywhere. They save all
the chips, all the tree roots for fuel, and
one cannot see dead trees rotting in
the woods as in America. They make
bedding for their stock, and manure
out of all the weeds and the low-
land grasses. After leaving Switzerland we