228 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bee-keeper will in some measure share with 

 me in this opinion. 



I hesitated, first, because I am a mere in- 

 fant in this Society, not having been a 

 member until this year, and never before 

 this season having had an opportunity to 

 attend one of its meetings. In the second 

 place, I hesitated because I am aware the 

 conclusions at which I have arrived will 

 clash more or less with the opinions held 

 by some of my brother bee-keepers. And 

 thirdly, I hesitated somewhat to express 

 my full convictions on the relative merits 

 of Italian and black bees on grounds of self 

 interest. I liave seen witli others that 

 there were dollars and cents connected 

 with raising and selling at fancy prices the 

 beautiful golden-banded queens, as also 

 with the sale of full stocks of the higlily 

 recommended. 



But I have become fully convinced that 

 the great superiority claimed for Italian 

 over black bees is pui'ely visionary and 

 fanciful. ISIy motto is, let the truth come 

 even if it does sear and burn some of the 

 pet theories and lessen the opportunities for 

 swindling the uninitiated and inexperienc- 

 ed ones. 



In the Agricuitiu'al Keport for 187.5 one of 

 our agricultural editors is strongly repri- 

 manded for making the statement that 

 Italians are no better than black bees, and 

 he (the editor) is represented as standing 

 alone on this question. If such was the 

 fact at that time I wish it to be understood 

 in the future that there is at least one more 

 on that side, and I am quite confident from 

 what I know of the feeling that exists 

 among bee-keepers that the time is not far 

 distant when pure black bees will be in 

 better demand than the beautiful yellow 

 bees are at present. 



In the above named agricultural report, 

 11 points of superiority are claimed for 

 Italians, as follows: 1-— They have longer 

 tongues or ligulas. 2 — They are more 

 active. 3— They work earlier and later. 

 4— They are better to protect their hives 

 against robbers. 5 — They are almost moth- 

 proof, tj— The queens are more prolific. 

 7— Brood raising commences earlier. 8 — 

 The queens are more easily found. 9— The 

 bees adhere to the combs better. 10— They 

 are far less apt to rob other hives. 11 — 

 They are more amiable. 



These I think are a fair sample of points 

 of superiority claimed by Italian queen 

 raisers in general. As the first three points 

 relate to honey gathering ability, I will 

 group them together and ask the following 

 question, viz: What advantage is there to 

 be gained by having bees with longer 

 tongues, greater activity and earlier and 

 later work, if, in fact, they do not gather 

 more honey in the same length of time? 

 My answer to this question you will get 

 from my experience which I shall relate 

 further on. 



On the 4th, .5th, and 10th points I will say 

 my experience proves to me that no prudent 

 bee-keeper will ever have trouble with rob- 

 bers or moths. And again on the 6th point, 

 what does it amount to, even if the queen 

 is more prolific, if in practice the brood 

 chamber does not actually contain more 

 brood ? On the 7th point 1 would say that 

 my experience furnishes no evidence that 

 brood raising commences earlier witli Ital- 

 ians than with blacks that have had the 

 same care. The 8th and 9th points may be 



considered as one, since the queen is more 

 easily found, because the bees adhere to the 

 combs better, and I think that this, together 

 with the claim that the Italians are more 

 amiable, is true; and it leaves the* matter 

 in this way: Italians are superior to black 

 bees only in two points — the queens are 

 more easily found and the bees are more 

 amiable, and therefore more easily handled, 

 I wish now to state in what respects I 

 consider black bees superior to Italians. I 

 will generalize them under tour heads, as- 

 follows: 



1. They are far better to store box honey, 

 far out-doing Italians in quality as well as 

 in storing it in much better shape. 



2. They are hardier, will stand the winter 

 better, and are not so liable to be reduced 

 by spring dwindling. 



3. They are better comb builders. They 

 build straighter; make less drone comb, 

 and are not nearly so apt to connect the 

 frames by small pieces of comb and bits of 

 wax. 



4. They are more easily controlled in the 

 practice of artificial swarming, which ta 

 every professional bee-keeper is all essen- 

 tial. 



I have arrived at these conclusions 

 through experience and very careful obser-,. 

 vations,and my experience is being confirm- 

 ed by that of other careful observers. In 

 explanation of my second jioint 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. 1 

 have had considerable experience with 

 Italian and black bees for tlie last 5 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 seem- 

 ed all to be in about the same condition. Of 

 these one colony was pure black bees, three 

 were hybrids, and two were pure Italians. 

 By the iast of April there was a marked dif- 

 ference in their condition. The blacks 

 wei'e 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 ottered him one of the Italians 

 for 1^10. After looking them over he want- 

 ed the price of my black swarm, and to save 

 it I put on a price of $25; and even at that 

 price he hesitated somewhat before making- 

 a choice of the Italian. 



In the spring of 1876 I sold my apiary in 

 Lenawee County, removed to Northville, 

 Wayne County, and formed a partnership 

 with Mr. D. F. Griswold. We innnediately 

 imrchased 60 colonies of bees, of which 33 

 were pure blacks, and 27 Italians. Again, 

 all seemed to be in about the same condi- 

 tion. The Italians had fine pedigrees. 

 They could be traced back as daughters, 

 grahd-dautrhters, sisters, etc., to queens 

 from Dadant. Argo, Novice, etc. It was all 

 very nice to iiave bees with pedigrees; but 

 it wasn't quite so nice to find the Italians 

 rapidly decreasing from the last of March to 



