380 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Living and Loving. 



To live and to love is better. 

 When eacli has its object in view ; 



To live and to love is blessed. 

 When those objects are noble and true. 



To live, tliat when mid earth's conflicts 



Our life is a help to some heart- 

 To love all, so truly and purely— 

 Will both blessings and joys impart. 



Thus living- and loving, together, 



When wisely and well it is done. 



Will yield in its highest fruition 



A Heaven on earth begun. 



— LucrLE. 



dueries apd Replies. 



Are Italian Bees a Distinct Race ? 



Query 810. — 1. Is it your opinion 

 that the Italians are a pure and distinct 

 race of bees? 2. If so, w^hy do not our 

 imported queens produce as beautiful, 

 evenly and well marked bees, as some 

 of our home-reared queens? 3. What 

 causes the Italians to "sport" so much? 

 — North Carolina. 



I really do not l<now. — C. C. Miller. 



1. No. 3. Because the type is not 

 thoroughly fixed. — J. A. Green. 



1. No race at all — only a variety. 2 

 and 3. Because they are not a fixed type. 

 —J. P. H. Brown. 



1. Only a thoroughbred. 2. Will you 

 tell? 3. Because they are not a distinct 

 race. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Yes. 2. Because our queen-breed- 

 ers are breeding more to beauty than 

 other characteristics. 3. This is a 



mooted question. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



f 



1. Yes, if there are any pure races of 

 bees. 2. Like Dr. Miller, I must say, 

 "I don't know." 3. Ask something 

 easy. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. Certainly it is. 2. They have not 

 been bred and selected with color alone 

 lu view. 3. It is true of all races of 

 animals, and why not of bees? — A. J. 

 Cook. 



I have just been reading Ernest 

 Heckle ou evolution and the descent of 

 man, which convinces me that it would 

 require two pages of the Bee Journal 

 to give space to a comprehensive answer 

 to your questions. — James IIeddon. 



2. I think that the majority of im- 

 ported queens will compare favorably 

 with the same number of home-bred 

 queens. 3. If we had full control of the 

 mating of queens, you would see very 

 few " sports. — H. D. Cutting. 



1. I have no doubt tliere is a pure 

 race of Italian bees. 2 and 3. Do not 

 imagine that we Americans are the only 

 importers of bees, and it would not be 

 anything wonderful to receive a mis- 

 mated queen even from Italy. — Mrs. J. 

 N. Heater. 



1. Our best authorities have long been 

 of the opinion that the Italians are not 

 a pure race. Still, it is sufficiently fixed 

 to entitle it to the distinction it has so 

 long held. 3. They "'sport" so much 

 because of the admixture of some other 

 race. — G. L. Tinker. 



As I understand the matter, all bees 

 in Italy are not yellow, but are more or 

 less crossed with dark bees. Our Ameri- 

 can breeders have taken great pains to 

 breed for color, hence, as I believe, 

 queens reared by our best breeders will 

 not sport as much as those that come 

 from Italy. — E. France. 



1, Practically speaking, yes. That is, 

 they are pure in the sense that short- 

 horn cattle are pure. 2. I believe they 

 do, unless by in-breeding our home-bred 

 queens are hightened in color. 3. Every- 

 thing sports. Name a race of animals, 

 or a family of plants, that all look ex- 

 actly alike. — Eugene Secor. 



1. No, not a fixed type. It takes a 

 long period of time and careful breeding 

 to establish a fixed type, or race, of any 

 animal or insect. 2. They are not a 

 fixed or established type or race of bees, 

 hence, the disposition to "sport" or 

 vary. 3. The same as No. 2. — Mrs. L. 

 Harrison. 



1. Yes, just as the Norman horses are 

 a pure race. 2. Because our home-bred 

 queens are bred for color, while the im- 

 ported ones are not. 3. I think the so- 

 called sporting is caused by mixture with 

 other races of bees. — R. L. Taylor. 



1, I do not think they are, if we figure 

 down fine ; but they may be so consid- 

 ered practically, as their characteristics 

 are fixed so permanently that they 

 duplicate themselves with certainty. 2. 

 The matter of color is not a test of 

 purity at all ; the tests are pec4iliar 

 formation, and three rings or more, of 

 various shades of yellow. 3. Pure and 

 purely bred Italians do not sport to any 

 extent, in my experience. — J. E. Pond. 



