1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



421 



BEES OF ARKANSAS. 



N article in your July No. from Mr. Gerome 

 Wiltsc, Nebraska, invites the following: 

 Your correspondent communicates some- 

 thing new to me relating to the bees of Arkansas, 

 and it is so novel tnat I am disposed to have my say 

 also, so that such men as Professors Cook and Has- 

 brouck may determine whether or not we have an 

 infinite variety of the honey bee in this state, indi- 

 genous as it were to the country, besides the black, 

 Italian, and hybrid. Mr. W. speaks of native bees of 

 this state, purchased by him with one or more yel- 

 low bands; while I am very far from denying his 

 statement on the subject, I shrewdly suspect some 

 adventurer had, in advance, carried Italians into the 

 country, from which he procured a lot of hybrids. 

 I base my belief on the fact that I have lived in the 

 state over 30 years, and made a specialty of examin- 

 ing the physical appearances of the honey bee all 

 over the state, having been in nearly all the coun- 

 ties, and up to this present writing have met only 

 three shades of the native honey bee. I say native 

 because I think the native question is settled. The 

 first, and by far the most numerous variety, is a 

 bright brown bee which when clustered in swarms 

 has more a tinge of yellow than black, hence I call 

 it brown, as it really is; the next in numerical 

 strength is the black bee emphatically; and the 

 least numerous is a grayish, dark bee, not gray from 

 recent development, as all young bees are, but gray 

 through life. These varieties are common in this 

 state, Tennessee, and Mississippi. 



Many years ago I thought the black bee borrowed 

 its color from being reared in very old, black combs; 

 but later observations convinced me that such was 

 not the fact. I have each variety now in full blast 

 in my apiary at Council Bend, Ark., where all show 

 their destinctive character, whether reared in old or 

 in new combs. Not being able to reconcile my ob- 

 servations with the views expressed by your corres- 

 pondent, I am inclined to believe that his yellow 

 banded bees had been early introduced into the 

 country, or he has mistaken the light brown bee 

 above described, which is very common all over the 

 state. Now I assume all the species of honey bees 

 belonging to the same genus are but one species 

 varying in external features, as do many of the ver- 

 tebrated animals. If not of the identical species, 

 how can you account for the prolificacy of the off- 

 spring when you blend the black with the Italian, or 

 Cyprian, or Egyptian, or with the Hob'-Land bees? 

 They are undoubtedly of the same species, and of 

 course the word hybrid is a misnomer to the mixed 

 varieties, which generally are more prolific than 

 either parent,— a result from infusing new blood 

 and a different energy into the offspring, just as 

 stock raisers avoid in-and-in breeding for the same 

 purpose. Now I am not prepared to say a hybrid in 

 the insect creation is amenable to the same laws 

 which obtain in the propagation of the mammalia. 

 I am not prepared to say the hybrid insect is impo- 

 tent to propagate his race, but the laws of reproduc- 

 tion are so well known in the vertebrated races that 

 we arc inclined to the assumption that nature, ever 

 true to herself, has attached the same undeviating 

 law of propagation to insect tribes. I have known 

 hybrid, aquatic birds to hatch about one egg in 

 eight which had all the characteristics of the mother 

 hybrid, but here I suppose the vivifying influence of 

 the sire, musco vy duck, extended in a feeble degree to 



the second generation, where it became extinct. 

 The hybrid bee will produce many generations of 

 its kind, but will eventually assume one of its orig- 

 inal types. G. B. Peters. 

 Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 15, 1880. 



^ m ^ — 



NEW ZEALAND FLAX. 



W 



JAVING seen some mention in Gleanings, 

 ! [Vol. VII. p. 130] of the honey producing 

 ■ ' qualities of Pharmium tenax, or New Zea- 

 land Flax, I thought that I could not do less than 

 send you a few specimen parts of the plant. I have 

 been rather long about it, but here they are at last. 

 This plant is very common in New Zealand, and is 

 perhaps the most striking feature in every land- 

 scape. To the natives it is of indispensable value. 

 They make many things useful, and some things 

 even elegant and artistic, of it. A Maori woman 

 would squat down by a flax bush, and make you a 

 basket in no time. By the settlers, it is made into 

 tow for stuffing matresses, &c; also into cordage. 

 The children know all about it; the leaves furnish 

 swords, and the flower stalks, guns and whipstocks. 

 The leaves are easily split into strips, plaited into 

 ropes, bridles, whips, &c. In fact, almost every 

 purpose to which boys put twine, is met by the flax 

 bush. The wagoner makes his whip lash, ties his 

 boots, mends his harness, &c, with flax which he 

 cuts by the way side. The farmer ties his sacks of 

 potatoes with the same, and many other everyday 

 needs are supplied by this plant. In the honey sea- 

 son, don't the "boys go for it," and stand there by 

 the half hour together, pulling down the long plant 

 stalks, breaking off the coarse, dull-red flowers, and 

 sipping out the nectar? The bees also go there I be- 

 lieve, as they often come home covered with dark 

 yellow pollen, which would be sure to be the case if 

 they made the descent into those deep flowers; but 

 on this I must make observations. 



I enclose a picture of this plant in its glory, which 

 will give you a better idea than any description 

 could do. As to the time taken to grow to the size 

 of that in the picture, I have no idea. They seem to 

 have stood for ages, and are always developing. 

 The parts I send aie as follows: 



Section of flower stalk at 3 feet from the root. 

 Section of same stalk at i) feet from the root, and 1 

 foot from the tip. Sprig of seed pods gathered 

 green. Part of a leaf or blade, showing how the 

 fiber is exposed to view by the action of wind and 

 storm, or by the chewing of cattle. Section of blade 

 at 3 feet from root. Tip of same at 5 feet from root. 

 Packet of seed gathered ripe. 



Wh. Henry Clemo. 



Waimate, Canterbury, New Zealand, July 16, 1880. 



Many thanks for the trouble you have 

 taken, friend C, and for your beautiful 

 specimens, which reached us in excellent 

 order. If I am correct, the plant has al- 

 ready been grown by some of our Southern 

 friends, and I should be very glad of reports 

 from it. I will try the seeds you send here, 

 and will give a few to any friend further 

 south, who wishes to test it. 



In answer to several inquiries as to the pronuncia- 

 tion of the word Cyprian, we will say that it is pro- 

 nounced in three syllables, with the accent on the 

 first, and as if it were spelled Sip-re-an. 



