1882 



GLEAI^INGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



113 



bacco worm by the bluish color of the anal horn on 

 its tall, and by a few minor distinctions. Here, this 

 horn has assumed the reddish color of the horn of 

 the tobacco worm. There, as here, the potato worm, 

 which is of a ffreenish-yellow color in the summer, 

 becomes nearly black late in the fall. Some speci- 

 mens hatch out yellow late in the year. In this case, 

 color is not to be relied on in determining the mem- 

 bers of the race, and the influences of temperature 

 and climate are strongly marked. 



BEES IN AMERICA, AND THE EASTERN RACES. 



Previous to the introduction of the Italian bee, the 

 bees of this section of country, in some cases, had 

 well-defined yellow bands; in Arkansas the yellow 

 color prevailed to a greater extent than here; in 

 New Mexico they were of a lighter color still; at the 

 North they remained dark. On the eastern conti- 

 nent, similar conditions have produced results sim- 

 ilar to those produced here. Many queen-breeders 

 have observed the change of color produced upon 

 the occupant of a queen-cell by exposure to cold; 

 and the same result maj' be expected by exposing 

 other brood. Diversity of color in a race of bees, 

 then, is in line with diversity in color in other races 

 of insects, and a result due to the same causes. As 

 in the case of the Poland-China hog, diversity of 

 color in progenitors will produce diversity of color 

 in the resulting race, unless the surrounding con- 

 ditions are such as to produce a counteracting in- 

 fluence. It is evident, if the yellow bee has been 

 produced at the South, and the black bee has been 

 produced at the North, that there must be an inter- 

 mediate point, or section of country, in which the 

 two influences are about equal. Here, a race inter- 

 mediate between the Southern and Northern races 

 would be likely to develope, or the two races would 

 overlap each other, and uniformity in color would 

 not be produced by natural selection. 



Virgil wrote before the time of Christ, and then 

 two races of bees were known in Italy. One was 

 spangled with gold, which is_ the better race, and 

 one looked hideously ugly. Italy was then the 

 intermediate ground on which the two races met, 

 and, overlapping each other, mingled together. 

 Knowing, at that early day, that the yellow bee was 

 to be preferred, the natives would naturally practice 

 selection in a rude way, and the yellow race would 

 gradually prevail over the dark one. The influences 

 of climate and temperature not existing in that 

 country, the change would have to be produced by 

 selection alone, and this could not be done until the 

 two races had become hopelessly blended. We 

 should expect from such results just what we have 

 got; namely, a race of bees, uniform in character- 

 istics, though varying in color from the lighter to 

 the darker race; yet, when removed to where cli- 

 matic influences have their full effect, capable of 

 rapidly assuming the color of the race whose blood 

 has entered most freely into their composition. 



In view of these facts, is it reasonable to doubt 

 that the Italian bee is a fixed race? In 1874, Mr. H. 

 A.King had four Italian queens that were dark 

 enough to pass for black queens. Their workers 

 were as yellow as any he ever saw — all alike, and 

 tapering in form, and the drones were better than 

 the average. He raised quite light queens from 

 them; this he could not understand, he said; and, 

 also, that all queens raised in this country are 

 lighter than those imported. Mr. King's experience 

 here given agrees with the experience of others 



who have used dark-colored queens from Italy, and 

 is the best evidence to show that the Italian bee is a 

 fixed race. Where climatic influences do not favor 

 uniformity in color, they follow the same rule that 

 governs the Poland-China hog; but when removed 

 to where it has its full force, the tendency is to at 

 once assume the color of the progenitor whose 

 blood has entered into their makeup the most 

 freely. They have descended from thesarae parents, 

 and have the same distinctive qualities in common, 

 which they transmit to their offspring with cer- 

 tainty. This is as much as can be said of any other 

 class of animals; they are, therefore, a race. 



Rulo, Neb., Feb., 188:2. Jerome Wiltse. 



Many thanks, friend W., for your able pa- 

 per, and the important facts you have fur- 

 nished us. I have often wondered just how 

 our Poland-China pigs and other improved 

 races came about, and you have given some 

 very important light on the matter. In re- 

 gard to the Dzierzon Theory, I would sim- 

 ply ask our friends who can, to get some 

 after-swarms from a locality where no Ital- 

 ians can be found, and bring them into a 

 large Italian apiary. These virgin black 

 queens will be pretty sure to meet Italian 

 drones, and will produce mixed workers — 

 some black, some three-banded, and some 

 one or two banded (begging friend Doolittle's 

 pardon). Now, if you can tind among the 

 whole a drone showing a single mark of Ital- 

 ian, you will do sometning 1 have not been 

 able to do.— I have several times had it re- 

 ported there were yellow bees in localities 

 where Italians had never been. All speci- 

 mens showed bees with a yellow fur, or 

 down, as described in the A B C, but none 

 showing the faintest yellow in the horny 

 scale, as do the Italians. If you will excuse 

 me, friend W.,I must still be a little incred- 

 ulous about any thing like Italian blood be- 

 ing found in America before their importa- 

 tion. 



KEEPING BOX HONEY. 



AN ARTICLE OF MUCH VALUE. 



M S there are some bee-keepers who fail to keep 

 J^^_ their honey in a good marketable condition, 

 ' I will try to give my experience, and hope it 

 will be of help to those who fail in this respect. 

 When I began keeping bees in movable-frame hives, 

 it was advised to store honey in a good, dry, well- 

 ventilated cellar, if one was handy. I had such a 

 one; and as the honey was taken off it was placed 

 on a table, or rack, in the cellar. Almost as soon as 

 it was stored there, it would begin to turn watery, 

 and sweat. I did not know what caused it, and so 

 did not remove it until shipment in the fall. I had 

 about 8000 lbs., and I think that I lost at least five 

 cents on every pound; or, in other words, $150, by 

 not knowing how to keep my honey in shape so that 

 it would bring a good price. At about this time I 

 saw it advised to keep it in a warm upper room; 

 and as I was about to build a bee cellar, I concluded 

 to add an upper story, and partition it into two 

 rooms, the one facing the south, with a large win- 

 dow on the south side, allowing the sun to shine di- 

 rectly in, to be used as a honey-room, 



I kept the window and door shut as much as pos- 

 sible, which made it very warm and close. For two 



