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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



dance with our notions. Suppose that we 

 have 20 pure colonies; we select two of 

 these — one to raise drones, another to raise 

 queens. We take care ot replacing all the 

 drone combs by worker combs in every 

 hive, and we profit by a warm temperature 

 in March to slip a drone comb between two 

 worker combs in the hive intended to raise 

 drones. As soon as we have a few drones 

 hatched, we begin to raise queens. To this 

 end, we deprive one of our colonies of its 

 queen, and exchange all its brood combs 

 with a similar number of our selected 

 colony; taking care to brush every bee from 

 the combs before introducing them in the 

 hives. Ten days after we can introduce, in 

 other colonies rendered queenless on the 

 preceding day, the queen cells obtained; or 

 make swarms according to the methods de- 

 scribed by bee books or papers, or dictate 

 our own experience. During the whole 

 season we note the colonies which seem to 

 possess most of the qualities desired. 



It is to be remembered that the best 

 queens are those raised in a good season, in 

 strong colonies, having a quantity of fresh 

 pollen and unsealed honey. The queens 

 raised in cold season, in small populations, 

 or in needy hives, being generally poor and 

 more apt to diminisli than to increase the 

 qualities of the race. 



Twenty years ago, the publisher of a 

 French bee paper advised his subscribers to 

 exchange some of their colonies with others 

 from some distant locality, to avoid too 

 close in-and-in breeding. He accused con- 

 sanguinity of producing lazy bees, or some 

 degenei'acy such as albinoism. In man, 

 albinoism or albinism is a degeneracy. It 

 is considered as such in some other animals. 

 Never have I seen albino bees in my apiary, 

 I am therefore unable to give my opinion 

 on their merit. I desire only to remark 

 that this peculiarity was observed more 

 than 20 years ago. 



According to my experience too close and 

 too prolongated in-and-in breeding can pro- 

 duce laziness in bees, and give birth to 

 queens whose progeny is not so sound as 

 should be desired. I have had queens 

 whose eggs would not hatch. I attribute 

 this to consanguinity. In fact, since I have 

 imported bees from different countries in 

 Italy 1 have no such mishap to regret. 



As to laziness, I have noticed it in my 

 neighborhood. When I came to this coun- 

 try, the bees in a neighboring township 

 were all the descendaiits of a single hive 

 brought to this country by an old man, who 

 had sold the swarms to his neighbors. 

 Never in my life have 1 seen such lazy 

 bees. 



Those who have compared the Italian 

 bees first introduced in this country from 

 Germany, have remarked how much su- 

 Ijerior the first cross with the black was to 

 tiie pure imported stock. These imported 

 bees were tlie oifspring of the Dzierzon 

 stock. Dr. Dzierzon, the discoverer of the 

 parthenogenesis was the first to introduce 

 the Italian bee in Germany. Lately, in a 

 meeting of bee-keepers, he boasted of hav- 

 ing the same breed of bees that he had in- 

 troduced in his apiary 24 years ago; he 

 having introduced no other bee since. ■ By 

 selection, Dzierzon succeeded in raising the 

 best colored Italian bees obtained so far. 

 But, according to my opinion his selection, 

 confined to color, was too one-sided; since 

 his bees, as to activity and prolificHess, are 



not able to sustain the comparison with the 

 Italians in their native country. 



The mating of these yellow queens witli 

 black drones, by infusing a new blood in 

 their veins, originated the false idea that 

 hybrid bees are better honey gatherers than 

 pure Italians. 



Some bee - keepers are searching for 

 queens whose progeny is always uniform in 

 color, under every circumstance. A queen 

 whose daughters and drones will never 

 vary is yet to be found. Sporting exists in 

 all animals and plants. Take one hundred 

 animals of the same kind, examine them 

 carefully, and you will be convinced that 

 no two are exactly alike. Without variation 

 no selection could be possible, and it is to 

 that quality that we owe the possibility of 

 bettering our races by selection. I have a 

 word to say about the other kinds of bees 

 more or less recently introduced to notice 

 among bee-keepers. 



The Egj'ptian bee is no longer in ques- 

 tion. Some Germans now praise a kind of 

 bees from an Austrian province— the Carni- 

 olian bee, which inhabits the shores of the 

 Adriatic Sea, opposite Italj'. According to 

 some reports this bee is more prolific than 

 the Italians; according to others the Italian 

 is a better honey gatherer. To try it I 

 ordered 5 queens, and received 3 alive last 

 fall. I would have been very much pleased 

 with these queens had they been brighter. 

 They are very dark, with very narrow 

 stripes of dark ox'ange on a few of their 

 rings; but they were remarkably large. 

 After 3 or 4 weeks of confinement in the 

 boxes in which they arrive, the imported 

 queens are small. The Carniolian queens 

 were on their arrival here as big as queens 

 in full breeding season. I shall watch them 

 closely and report. A cross between the 

 Carniolian and the Italian may prove profit- 

 able; but it would be impossible to detect 

 the pure crossing unless some unforeseen 

 pecnlarity gives the means to detect the 

 difference. 



I cannot close my essay without saying a 

 word about the marvel, the ne 2)lus ultra of 

 the present, past and future time, " the 

 Cyprian bee." I have tried to procure this 

 new kind but failed. I have given carte 

 blanche to my correspondent as to the cost. 

 He managed to procure the name of a man 

 inhabiting Crypus Island and received from 

 him 5 colonies; but they arrived smashed. 

 It is very diflicult to get bees from that is- 

 land. There are no scientific bee-keepers, 

 but peasants who keep their bees in earthen 

 jars. These peasants refuse to sell bees, in 

 the belief tliat the remaining colonies 

 would be dissatisfied and desert the apiary. 



Besides Cypress is an isolated island, hav- 

 ing little to export and very few needs; no 

 regular steamers frequent its shores. The 

 shipping of these hives is risky; delays are 

 long, and changes of ships are many. These 

 inconveniences will always prevent the im- 

 portation of Cyprian bees from becoming of 

 great importance. 



My friend is an energetic man; he has 

 resolved to succeed in spite of all ditficul- 

 ties. Yet it is to be feared that this bee 

 may prove to be far below its reputation, 

 Mr. Cori, who introduced it into Germany, 

 does not say in what it is better than other 

 kinds, he only says it is more noble. He 

 has succeeded in importing only 2 colonies 

 from Cyprus, so far; and all the queens sold 

 in Germany came from these. 



