AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



^55 



Mississippi Valley, an exceptionally se- 

 vere season will convince him that for 

 this region the aforesaid ijfiethod cannot 

 be considered reliable. I have no doubt, 

 however, that with Mr. Muth the plan 

 he describes is successful. 

 Blairstown, Iowa. 



StanlarJ for Ilaliaii Bees. 



THOS. JOHNSON. 



I have read Mr. Doolittle's statement 

 on page 47, saying that he is satisfied 

 that the Italian bee is a hybrid, etc. I 

 wish to cite him other animals besides 

 the winged kind. 



First, the Hereford cattle originated 

 in England, and as a general rule they 

 are red, with white faces. I have seen 

 some of them with white spots on their 

 sides, and some of them are dark red, 

 light red, some with white-lined backs, 

 and some not, but all registered animals 

 and thoroughbreds. 



Second, take the Shorthorns (Dur- 

 ham) cattle — all registered animals, 

 some dark red, some light red, some 

 roans, others white, varying from differ- 

 ent families. Now, according to Mr. 

 Doolittle's argument, the above animals 

 are all hybrids. 



I might go further in describing the 

 animal kingdom, to show the weakness 

 of Mr. Doolittle's statements, but I am 

 satisfied this is far enough to convince 

 any reasonable mind that we can es- 

 tablish a uniformity for Italian bees in 

 America, and yet do no* queen-breeder 

 injustice. Furthermore, establish and 

 deep a register of all queens bred to a 

 certain standard. Any apiarian associa- 

 tion can do it— county. State or national 

 — all they have to do is to say what 

 should be necessary for an apiarist to 

 do, and what standard his queen should 

 test, so that she should be eligible to 

 record. 



It is true that we have no way to dis- 

 tinguish from what family the male 

 crop is from, but lot her be fertilized 

 with a black or hybrid drone, just as 

 soon as her daughters begin to hatch, 

 and we would see quite a difference, in 

 the color, from their "aunties." 



The way to establish uniformity in 

 Italians would be in their color, and if 

 any other bee-man has a better theory, 

 let him publish it. 



Is it possible that Mr. Doolittle has 

 been all these years selling hybrid 

 queens to his customers, and still they 

 have been thinking that they were buy- 



ing the best bred Italians of America, 

 and buying from one of the best breed- 

 ers of queens in New York State ? 



I have now got my bees, by carefully 

 breeding the Italians, so that I have no 

 use for veils only for visitors ; but, by 

 the way, if I had any of Doolittle's 

 hybrids in my apiary, I believe I should 

 have to get more bee-veils. 



Establishing a system of grading Ital- 

 ian bees is a question of importance to 

 bee-men, and the sooner it is settled by 

 some national bee-association the better. 

 I would like to hear from other apiarists 

 of America on this subject. 



Coon Rapids, Iowa. 



Colorado State ConTentioii. 



H. KNIGHT. 



The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met at Denver on Jan. 18, 1892, 

 at 10 a.m. After some routine business, 

 it adjourned at 1 1 o'clock to attend the 

 Real Estate Exchange, by invitation, to 

 hear the address on beet sugar. 



AFTEENOON SESSION. 



The reports of the Secretary and 

 Treasurer were read and approved. 



The increase of membership fees was 

 discussed. Action deferred. 



Thirty members renewed membership. 



Reports of Vice-Presidents of the dif- 

 ferent counties were favorably received. 



F. O. Blair, of Trinidad, Vice-Presi- 

 dent at large, said : " There is no foul- 

 brood in Las Animas county ; bees have 

 done fairly well, but the weather was 

 too dry." 



V. Devinney, of Jefferson county, said 

 that "considerable damage had been 

 done by foul-brood ; the average crop 

 was 25 pounds of comb-honey per 

 colony." 



Chas. Adams, of Weld county, reports 

 the organization of a bee-keepers' asso- 

 ciation at Greeley. 



R. C. Aiken, of Larimer county, was 

 not prepared to make a general report. 



Mr. Alford, from 300 colonies, ob- 

 tained 100 lbs. of comb-honey a colony. 



J. D. Adams, of Boulder county, said : 

 "Bees are in good condition; the average 

 yield per colony is 27 pounds." 



E. B. Porter, of Longmont, said : "I 

 have 55 colonies, and the yield is 30 

 pounds each." 



H. L. Rauchfuss, of Harman, said 

 that "his bees averaged 109 pounds of 

 extracted-honey per colony." 



Mrs. Hartman said: "I have 200 

 colonies, all healthy." 



