106 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



If we had a strain of bees having 

 tongues one-third longer than our Ital- 

 ians, what a grand result must follow. 

 Millions of dollars would be added to the 

 red clover belt, and that in the produc- 

 tion of honey alone ; and the perfect 

 fertilization of red clover bloom would 

 again malvc millions more for those who 

 do not keep bees, but who would secure 

 large crops of seed because of his neigh- 

 bor's bees. If you do not believe these 

 statements, go out amongst the hum of 

 the bees, and see how they do aid along 

 the line of nature. The white clover 

 field that has been visited and re-visited, 

 yields, without exception, an overthrust 

 of seed. Alsike clover, that has been 

 brought from Sweden, has been met by 

 the honey-bee, and thus yields . seed 

 accordingly. 



But how about the red clover ? I have 

 never seen but one crop that filled to 

 perfection, or nearly so, and this eight 

 acres was under my closest observation. 

 The weather was exceedingly dry and 

 windy at times, and there was some 

 humble-bees (bombus), and large num- 

 bers of Italians and hybrids — in fact, 

 everything favored a perfect fertiliza- 

 tion, and the seed crop yielded a trifle 

 over eight bushels per acre. 



The past has shown very clearly that 

 like begets like, and will produce a hog 

 with a long snout, or a horse whose 

 head will reach the bottom of a salt- 

 barrel. I will be pleased to receive 

 samples of long-tongued bees that can 

 reach red clover. 



Welton, Iowa. 



Ascertaining lie Parity of Italian Bees. 



GEO. 8. WHEELEK. 



I believe that bees from very yellow 

 pure queens, even though they meet 

 black drones, will show three bands and 

 pass for pure Italians. 



I have an Italian queen, very light in 

 color, whose bees show four or more 

 bands, that I have reared queens from 

 the past season, and were finely marked. 

 In my apiary tliere were flying at the 

 time these young (lueens were out on 

 their wedding flight, drones that eight 

 o\it of ten \v(^re black, yet evei-y one of 

 thes(! young queens produced nice three- 

 banded bees. It is my opinion, from tiie 

 experience I have had. that wc; may rear 

 as many queens as we like from these 

 young queens, and put them in an api- 

 ary where none bnt pure Italian drones 



are flying within five miles, yet their 

 progeny will show genuine hybrids. 



The first season I tried to rear Italian 

 bees, I had a fine queen procured of a 

 Vermont queen-breeder (more than 20 

 years ago). I had some 20 colonies of 

 black bees, and only Italian drones in 

 the one Italian colony ; the other colo- 

 nies reared black drones, as usual. 

 Nearly every queen, I thought, mated 

 with Italian drones, as the bees showed 

 three bands like the old Vermont colony. 



Well, the uext season I had introduced 

 these Italian queens, and had lots of 

 Italian drones, and supposed I should 

 have all my queens purely mated, and 

 have fine three-banded bees, but such 

 was not the case, as about every one of 

 those queens produced hybrids. There 

 were no Italian bees then kept within 

 ten miles of my apiary. 



The past season there were no Italian 

 bees kept within three or four miles, 

 which these young queens could have 

 met. Now, I believe that queen-breeders 

 who rear their queens from very bright 

 yellow pure queens, and warrant the 

 queens sent out to produce three-banded 

 bees, run little risk in having complaints 

 of impurity, as the workers will show 

 three bands ; yet many of them are 

 nothing but hybrids. 



New Ipswich, N. Y. 



Some California Scenes DescrtteJ. 



W. A. PRYAL. 



When I learned through Gleanings 

 some months ago that Mr. A. I. Root, of 

 Ohio, and Prof. Cook, of Michigan, were 

 going to come to this part of California, 

 and would be in Sacramento on Dec. 

 16, to be present at a meeting of bee-; 

 keepers, I was greatly pleased. I waited 

 in anticipation of meeting those gentle- 

 men in that city at that date, as I long 

 had a desire to see Mr. A. I. Root, whom 

 I seemed to know so well as a writer 

 through Oleanings since early in 1877; 

 also Prof. Cook, whom I had corres- 

 ponded with when I was connected witli 

 the old AplcultuHst, nine years ago. 



It was, therefore, with the hope of 

 seeing the gentlemen named, that I went 

 to our capital on Dec. 15. I was detailed 

 by a San Francisco weekly to write a 

 report of the meeting for publication. 

 But, lo, how disappointed I was the next 

 day ! There was no meeting to be found 

 anywhere in the city, and I hunted up 

 every hall, and mad(^ inquiries at the 

 commission houses and grocery stores ; 



