266 



out exception, workers having yellow, or 

 brownish (orange colored) bands. 



Here we have several shades of color 

 given, as described and set forth by our 

 friend, which our experience carroborates. 

 As to their varying in color, we often think 

 of the description the old lady gave of her 

 Burkshire pigs. She said, " they were ring 

 streaked, and speckled, but she knew they 

 were pure, as they were bred in Ohio." So 

 with the Italian bees *, they vary from light 

 to dark, and some so very dark that they 

 show impurity. They seem to vary as 

 much in color as did the old lady's pigs. — 

 But our friend has given us a very elab- 

 orate description of the place where the 

 Italian bee is found without spot or blemish. 

 As nothing is found in the districts named 

 but the pure Italian bee, we would advise 

 our importers to obtain bees from the dis- 

 tricts named. 



We have bred the Italian bee from both 

 liome-bred and imported mothers, ever since 

 its first introduction into this country ; 

 while a large majority of the queens bred 

 workers of uniform markings, viz. : with 

 3 yellow bands, but of various shades, as 

 well as various grades of color, we have 

 also found that the queens often differ, 

 as to color, as do the workers. So far as 

 it regards the economic value of them, Ave 

 have only found that it lies in the scale of 

 the color of them — not in the superior 

 qualities, such as prolificness, hardiness 

 and their ability to store honey, &c. But 

 the beautiful, bright-colored Italian bee 

 finds much quicker sale than the dark ; and 

 the brighter the bee, the greater the value. 

 These bright Italian bees, although bred 

 direct from imported mothers, our friend 

 Gravenhorst calls imported, or American 

 Italians, and concedes them genuine, yet 

 admits that some of the queens, as found in 

 Italy, are yellow to the tips of the abdo- 

 men ; and from the description given of the 

 various colors, as produced from the differ- 

 ent localities, that they, too, differ much. 



The question will be asked, no doubt, 

 why Mr. Gravenhorst calls these bright, or 

 light-colored Italians impure, although bred 

 from imported mothers ? If the bright, or 

 light-colored Italian bee breeds her workers 

 xmiform in their markings, then they are as 

 pure, and we have very good reason to 

 believe purer than those of a much darker 

 strain. However, we will not argue this 

 further, but will say, if the description of 

 the Italian bee is correct ; from its first his- 

 tory there has been two classes or colors 

 described, the light and the dark ; and the 

 preference was given to the light golden 

 color, — but not until within a few years — 

 since the darker class has been largely 

 imported did we hear that they were supe- 

 rior to the brighter color, and we cannot 

 but think our friend in error, when he calls 

 the bright yellow Italian bee, as now bred 

 in this country, impure. 



Can it be possible that the American bee- 

 keeper cannot tell when his bees are 

 uniform in tiieir characteristic marks, when 

 it is a well known fact that America leads 

 the world in apiculture ? 



About those queens producing princesses 

 uniformily, wiiiie others not duplicating 

 themselves at all, is evidence of their not 



having any fixed characteristic mark of 

 their own, as to duplicating themselves in 

 points of color. Here we agree with Mr. 

 Gravenhorst, and will further say that we 

 believe that neither Mr. Gravenhorst or any 

 other man can produce Italian queens that 

 will duplicate themselves every time in 

 their color. It cannot be done with the 

 Italian bee any more than it can with the 

 human family ! Take any Italian queen 

 and raise 25 queens from her, under any 

 circumstances, and some of the queens will 

 vary in shades of color. Well might friend 

 Dadant say he could not see how a light- 

 colored queen could produce dark-colored 

 daughters, and vice versa ; and suggest that 

 perhaps it was the honey, pollen, or the 

 weather being too wet or cold, the wind 

 blowing so, and so, or electricity. Why not 

 say they were reared in the wrong time of 

 the moo?}.? 



From careful experience and observation, 

 we have found, while breeding from the 

 best imported Italian bees, that they will 

 produce queens all the way from a golden 

 color to a jet black ; yes, even to a shining 

 black. We have tested some of these 

 shining black queens, bred from imported 

 queens, from the districts described by our 

 friend, and found that they bred as bright 

 and uniform workers as any bees that we 

 have ever seen. 



We once received a queen from Rev. A. 

 Salisbury, of Illinois ; although quite a 

 small one, she bred the largest bees, and 

 was on'e of the most prolific breeders that 

 we ever saw. Her bees were as uniformily 

 marked as any could be, but her queens 

 were of different shades of color— all good 

 — and she often bred a dark queen, black 

 as black could be ; and these black queens 

 produced the handsomest and brightest 

 workers we ever saw. 



We received an order the other day for an 

 Italian queen ; the order for which said, 

 " Send me a queen that will duplicate her- 

 self every time as to color, viz.: bright 

 yellow." He wanted no other. Well, we 

 could not fill this bill, and we did not 

 believe any other man in America could ; 

 we knew of none, unless it was those 

 spoken of by our friend, that produce prin- 

 cesses "all uniformily alike." If such 

 queens can be found, they will command 

 any price asked for them ; but they will not 

 be found in this generation. 



ABE BEES PBOFITABLE ? 



The above question is frequently asked, 

 and we can only reply "no and yes." If 

 bee-keepers insist on managing bees as did 

 their ancestors, they will find it a rather 

 discouraging task ; on the other hand, if 

 they will manage them under the new 

 system of bee-keeping, with a little knowl- 

 edge of their habits and requirements, tlie 

 result must be one of profit and pleasure. 



Remember, the very first element in suc- 

 cessful bee-culture is an intimate knowl- 

 edge of the bee, and this can not be acquired 

 in a day, although very easily learned 

 when the novice is ready and willing to 

 apply himself to the study and nature of 

 their wants and habits. It can not be 

 acquired in a day from books. Every step 

 that is taken through the labyrinthian 



