362 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ M>y 16, 1867. 



that statement I by no means adopt the theory that this object 

 is more easily attained, as some seem to think, when the drones 

 are distant some miles. Indeed, I am not satisfied that we 

 have yet sufficient evidence that, in this oonntry at least, im- 

 pregnation takes place at the extreme distances mentioned. A 

 circle having a radios of five miles, is equal to ten miles in 

 diameter, or thirty miles in circumference. How small, appa- 

 rently, seems the chance of two solitary bees, starting five 

 miles apart, meeting in this large area ! Even though the 

 flight were from opposite directioYis in a straight line, it would 

 embrace, at the least, a distance traversed by each of two miles 

 and a half. Be this as it may, I would reckon the chances of 

 an Italian queen's true impregnation in proportion to the 

 number and proximity of Italian drones. Moreover, I do not 

 see that we have sufficient grounds for supposing that the 

 "chances nre always largely in favour of a cross." 



Again, when I said that according to the doctrine of parthe- 

 nogenesis a Ligurianised apiary should not deteriorate even in 

 circumstances where impurities manifest themselves — a re- 

 storation to its normal condition in the absence of nil foreign 

 influence being only a matter of time — of course I reckoned 

 upon any slight taint virtually disappearing before surround- 

 ing purer influences. Strictly speaking, however, absolute 

 purity could never be attained; for once a taint exists, no 

 power in nature can ever eradicate it wholly. Nevertheless 

 optically, if not actually, any slight taint would be purged out 

 by such agency. 



I do not well perceive Mr. West's argument as to the selec- 

 tion of a particular larva for the future queen. If he has in 

 view a pure stock, then no larva can be present in it which 

 would develope into a doubtfully-marked, far less a black bee. 

 If an impure stock is referred to, the particular larva selected 

 would only affect the colonr of the queen reared from it, but 

 her better colouring would be no guarantee that it should be 

 'transmitted to her offspring. 



The effects of breeding, according to strict rule, might be 

 stated thus: If we breed from a pure Italian queen, crossed 

 by a common black or English drone, the process of deteriora- 

 tion will be very rapid, by the same drone influence being con- 

 tinued, and, consequently, the first queen will be represented 

 by a half, the second by three-fourths, and the third by seven- 

 eighths impure. In the third generation, therefore, the queen 

 will retain very little — one-eighth only of the Ligurian element, 

 and her progeny again will retain still less. Here the deterio- 

 ration is a constantly increasing one until, optically, the Ligu- 

 rian element will entirely vanish. Starting with a half-bred 

 queen, and always with the aid of pure Italian drones, the 

 queen's purity would increase after this fashion — namelv, J, ?, 

 I, 7i/8, 7|/8, 15^/16, 15j/lfi, A-c, so that in seven genera- 

 tions, reckoning three generations being accomplished artifi- 

 cially each season, we wonld thus attain a purity of the queen 

 as represented by 15 J/16, a pretty fair advance in the ascending 

 process of Ligurianising. Still, as before stated, though we 

 should proceed in the same way ad infinitum, we should, per- 

 haps, never reach absolute purity. Like a person journeying 

 from a point A to another point B, and by each successive 

 move accomplishing a portion only of the distance beyond, 

 however near he might attain the desired goal, he could of 

 course never reach it ; like the terms of an infinite series, the 

 process is never exhausted. 



But after all the question will, perhaps, be put, and it is quite 

 a pertinent one — What is meant by purity in the Italian bee? 

 How is it defined ? What are its characteristics ? Is it to be 

 estimated by colour alone, or by colour and form ? Is the 

 worker to be the only test ; or must we have regard to the 

 qneeu also, and to the drone ? For my own part, I can only 

 say in answer to all this, that my experience is full of anoma- 

 lies. My purest queens — those, for instance, I had from Mr. 

 Woodbury — produced beautiful workers but indifferent drones. 

 The queens themselves, too, were less highly coloured than 

 some reared from them ; while, on the other hand, subsequent 

 queens that bred worse workers than the original queens, yet 

 produced more beautiful drones. Nevertheless, my own idea 

 of purity would be good colouring in all the three. At 

 all events analogous dealings with respect to animals would 

 lead us to select the best type of queen and drone to breed 

 from. The Germans seem to hint at this, and, I rather think, 

 try to carry it out in practice. Mr. Woodbury has had much 

 experience in this matter, and from his known ability and 

 great success in preserving the purity of the race for so long a 

 period, any testimony coming from him wonld, I am sure, be 

 highly appreciated. 



Then as to hybrids. How are we to ascertain them? Of 

 course there is no diflSculty where the English or black ele- 

 ment manifests itself in conspicuous characters ; but there are 

 certain close approximations to purity in the first generation 

 not so easily determined. For instance, one queen I reared 

 from the original pure one was more beautifully coloured than 

 her parent, and her drones also were very superior, but her 

 worker progeny, though all pretty well coloured and not a 

 dark bee amongst them, were evidently inferior and inherited 

 a taint, however slight, which increased more manifestly 

 at the next remove. The ordinary observer might have a 

 difficulty in noticing the difference, yet there it was and no 

 mistake. 



So far as my observations have gone, I have never found a 

 queen's progeny, pure or hybrid, alter or vary in character. It 

 remained the same during the queen's life. Nevertheless, there 

 are differences in the offspring of different queens, hybridised 

 apparently in a similar way, which appear to me inex]ilicable; 

 but, perhaps, we should not after all attach too much im- 

 portance to this want of uniformity, for we find analogies every 

 day as respects other animals, the progeny in one case follow- 

 ing more after one parent, and in another case after the other. 

 Close and careful observations are needed in all our investi- 

 gations after truth in this matter, but even then we may 

 probably find that this is a question in nature lying beyond 

 the ken of human knowledge, involviug in its consideration 

 constitutional and other latent causes which we can never 

 explain. — J. Lowe. 



OBTAINING ARTIFICIAL SWARIMS WITH 

 FRAME HR^ES of DIFFERENT CONSTRUCTION. 



If "J. C. A.'s" Woodbury hives contain compound frame- 

 bars, he may, I should think, overcome his difliculty by follow- 

 ing the plan adopted by myself in making artificial swarms in 

 frame hives of any construction with the aid of brood comb 

 taken from a Woodbury compound frame-bar hive. I take a 

 Woodbury bar of brood comb out of the frame, pierce the end 

 of it with an awl or gimlet, insert a French nail (the head of 

 which has been previously flattened), just so far into the end of 

 the bar as to make it of the required length. The object of 

 flattening the head of the nail is that it may rest steadily. I 

 apprehend that none of ".I. C. A.'s " frame hives are of less 

 dimensions from front to back than the length of a Woodbury 

 bar when taken out of its frame. 



I have adopted this plan even with square Stewarton frame 

 hives with slides between the bars, pasting the open parts over 

 with brown paper, and in this state a very weak swarm of last 

 year has stood the winter under an open shed. During even 

 the most severe frosts of the past winter I did not cover up any 

 of my hives, some of which are of the lightest description, one 

 being a Woodbury super not more than half full of comb, and 

 out of eleven stocks not one has suffered from exposure to the 

 intense cold. All were under open sheds with a northern 

 aspect. — M. S. 



OUR LETTER BOX. 



Weigut of Eggs (W. T/ioniji.TOitl.— Spanish eggs nsnally weigh 3J ozs., 

 and these are as larfrc or larger than these nf other pure varieties ; but 

 we were shown recently eorao eggs of a cross-bred fowl that weighed 

 3J oza. We may notice this cross after we have seen the heu. 



TuRKETR NOT Paid FOR (H. B. X.).— You have an easy remedy; ascer- 

 tain, by writing to some one at Carabcrwell, whether there is such a. man 

 in VixrV. Street, and if there is sne him in the County Court. 



Poultry-keeping IE. L. L., Wolverhampton). — For full information on 

 the subject of the different breeds of fowls and their management, we 

 recommend you to consult the " Poultry-keeper's Manual," published at 

 our office, price 7s. Gd. 



Snails for Ducks (E. S.).— There is no doubt that snails and slugs 

 would be a fattening diet for Ducks, but we never heard of their being 

 omployed specially for the purpose. The plant enclosed seems to bd a 

 hixnrijint specimen of chickweed, but we cannot be certain without 

 seeing its flowers. Do not be misled by the name into the belief that it, 

 chickweed, is particularly liked by poultry. 



Canaries Footless.— I have just hatched two Canaries which are 

 deformed, being without feet, the legs being mere stumps. Can you 

 accomit for this ? — Lex. 



[It can no more he accounted for than why Miss Biffin was bom with- 

 out arms.] 



Pre-i-entiro Second Swarms OV H. J.).— No extension of room can 

 be relied on to stop the issue of a second swarm. Mr. "Woodbury has 

 frequently supplied queens at the price named, but may not at all times 

 be in a position to do so. 



