43G STATE BOARD OF AGEICULTUEE. 



comb, and are not nearly so apt to connect the frames by small pieces of comb 

 iind bits of wax ; 



4. They are more easily controlled in the practice of artificial swarming, 

 which to every professional bee-keeper is all essential. 



I have arrived at these conclusions through experience and very careful obser- 

 vations, and my experience is being confirmed by that of other careful observers. 

 In explanation of my second point, I would say that I am not so certain that 

 black bees winter better so far as the body of winter is concerned, but I am 

 positively sure they came through the spring better ; and every practical bee- 

 keeper will agree with me that this is a very important period in wintering bees. 

 Perhaps the dwindling of Italians in spring may be due to flying out when the 

 weather is too cold, tliereby becoming chilled and unable to return to the hives. 

 I have had considerable experience with Italian and black bees for the last five 

 years, but have only had an opportunity to give them a fair test during the last 

 two years, which is as follows : 



March 25, 1875, I purchased six swarms of bees. They had been taken out 

 of winter quarters only a short time before, and seemed all to be in about the 

 .same condition. Of these one colony was pure black bees, three were hybrids, 

 and two were ]iure Italians. By the last of April there was a marked difference 

 in their condition. The blacks were strong, the hybrids were next in strength, 

 while the Italians were reduced to a mere handful in either colony. 



May 1st I sold a swarm to one of my neighbors. I offered him one of the 

 Italians for 810. After looking them over he wanted the price of my black 

 swarm, and to save it I put on a price of $35 ; and even at that price he hesi- 

 tated somewhat before making a choice of the Italian. 



In the spring of 1876 1 sold my apairy in Lenawee county, removed to North- 

 ville, Wayne county, and formed a partnership with Mr. 1). F. Griswold. We 

 immediately ]mrchased sixty colonies of bees, of which thirty-three were pure 

 blacks, and twenty-seven Italians. Again, all seemed to be in about the same 

 •condition. The Italians had fine pedigrees. They could be traced back as 

 daughters, granddaughters, sisters, etc., to queens from Dadant, Argo, Novice, 

 'Otc. It was all very nice to have bees with pedigrees, but it wasn't quite so nice 

 to find the Italians rapidly decreasing from the last of March to the first of 

 May. About the latter date we transferred all our bees, the blacks from the 

 •^old box hives to hives with movable-frames, the Italians from movable-frames 

 to frames of a different shape. Again Ave found a decided difference between 

 the condition of blacks and Italians. The blacks averaged much stronger and 

 had a much larger amount of brood than the Italians. But I will pass these 

 things by as of minor importance, and go on to the main point for which all 

 bees are supposed to be kept, vi;^. : the largest possible amount of pure honey 

 in the most salable shape. 



When summer came and the trees were laden with bloom, the meadows car- 

 peted with rich white clover, and each flower well stored with nectar, then it 

 was that I became completely disgusted with Italian bees. Our blacks were 

 getting on in the most satisfactory manner, building and storing a whole sec- 

 tion in a single day, while I found it impossible to induce Italians to enter the 

 boxes at all. But instead they were filling the brood chamber below, and, 

 wherever there was any possible space, building small additions of comb ; mean- 

 while they were trying to swarm with the wildest confusion, and swarm they 

 did Avith but a small amount of bees, and without a single queen cell. Then it 

 was I stocked our nuclei witli queen cells from our pure and most prolific blacks, 



