538 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



rcmcilj it. Of course, the nearer pure the impure becomes, the more diflScult 

 the dttcctiou of the impurity ; aud bees, like animals in this respect, sometimes 

 " take sides " in breeding — so much so that I have had hybrid stock which 

 noue but an expert could have distinguished by their markings from pure. It 

 Las been generally supposed in this couutry that queens were pure which pro- 

 duced workers the first three abdominal rings below the waist of which were 

 of a yellowish or straw color, with a black edging or border. This test alone, 

 however, cannot with safety be depended upon. Queens which are three-fourths 

 or nearer pure, not unfrequently produce workers thus marked ; but if queens 

 are bred from the eggs of such tainted queens, they or their immediate progeny 

 will almost invariably, by their markings, discover their impurity. This mode 

 of testing has been adopted by the Rev. Mr. Kleine and other distinguished Euro- 

 pean apiarians as the only one upon which entire reliance can be placed. The 

 trouble, expense, aud time required to apply it, however, renders it particularly 

 objectionable to breeders, who are exceedingly anxious that the country should 

 be supplied with queens in the shortest possible time within which they can be 

 produced, regardless of a little im2)urity, which may cost the purchaser months 

 of care and trouble to eradicate after he has procured a pure queen j hence it 

 is exceedingly desirable, both to breeders and purchasers, that some other means 

 more readily accessible should be furnished. This has already been done, at 

 least approximately ; but as yet I have not seen it so clearly described as to 

 enable a novice to readily and fully distinguish it without having previously 

 seen pure Italian bees. This test is their extreme docility, perfect composure, 

 and quietness when being handled, or under circumstances which would greatly 

 excite and irritate the native or hybrid. One of the chief recommendations of 

 this bee, which was heralded to the American people on its introduction, was its 

 extreme docility, even under great provocation, and I frankly confess that five 

 years of their cultivation, coupled with constant series of experiments during that 

 period, has with me fully confirmed this repute of their character ; and I have 

 been greatly surprised to learn, through the agricultural prints and other 

 sources, that Mr. Quimby and some other skilful apiarians cannot agree with 

 me upon this point. Out of probably six to eight hundred queens that I have 

 reared, not one of reliable purity has failed upon this point. So uniformly and 

 invariably is this the case that I should, without hesitation, condemn as impure 

 any stock, whatever its markings, which did not possess this characteristic, un- 

 less by oft-repeated and excessive annoyance their anger had been greatly and 

 repeatedly provoked. 



On lifting the combs covered by pure Italian workers out of the hive, 

 scarcely any of them will leave it, nor show any indications of anger or dis- 

 composure, beyond a careful watchfulness against the encroachments of robbers 

 and protection to their queen, brood, and honey. Another peculiarity is the 

 great tenacity with which they cling to their combs. In a few instances, 

 where the combs have been filled with honey, I have actually shaken the 

 frames to pieces v/ithout being able to dislodge all the bees. Colonies which 

 closely approximate pui'ity possess, in some degree, these peculiarities ; hence 

 the necessity for persons w4io propose to breed these bees, to first familiarize 

 themselves with these peculiarities by visiting an apiary of undoubted purity. 



ITALIANIZING AN APIARY. 



This is done by rearing queens from the eggs of the pure Italian queen, 

 removing the native queen from her hive, and substituting the Italian in her 

 place and stead. 



REARING QUEENS. 



This process is greatly facilitated by the use of the movable comb hive ; in- 

 deed, without its use I should almost despair of success in Italianizing an 



