880 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I have often wondered why such as 

 this should be thrown in the progressive 

 queen-breeder's face, while the same 

 men will sound abroad the praises of our 

 progressive cattle, sheep, swine, and 

 poultry breeders. Do not these men 

 know that it would be much easier for a 

 queen-breeder to send out queens whose 

 progeny would run from the dark Ital- 

 ians of the Roots, to the five-banded 

 bees of some of our most progressive 

 breeders ? And that such bees as these 

 would need no guarantee of any kind, 

 and could be easily reared even by the 

 novice? 



Why not go back to the herds and 

 flocks of our forefathers, and claim that 

 the old razor-backed hog from the woods 

 was hardier and better than our round, 

 fat, sleek Berkshires and Suffolks ? 

 This would be just as consistent as is 

 much of the talk about the black bees, 

 and those imported direct from Italy, 

 being superior to those from our best 

 breeders; for, say these talkers, "as 

 beauty increases, superior quality de- 

 creases." 



From the foregoing I think Mr. John- 

 son will see that when he comes to try 

 to establish a uniformity of color, and 

 keep a registry of queens bred to a cer- 

 tain standard, he will have as big an 

 " elephant on his hands " as have those 

 who have been trying to establish a uni- 

 form standard for sections. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



BasswooJ Trees, Italians anl DaiMons. 



J. C. LILLIBKIDGE. 



I wish to thank the Bee Journal and 

 the friends for their kind answers to my 

 questions about basswood trees. I have 

 since found out that they do blossom 

 when quite young, right here at home, 

 when in a cultivated field, at least. 



Mr. Judkins, on page 615, would 

 seem to intimate that we have very little 

 basswood, but I think if at the time he 

 was here he had followed some of the 

 small streams up from one to five miles 

 from the river, he would have found 

 among the timber in the valleys quite a 

 sprinkling of basswood trees. But it is 

 fast disappearing now, as well as our 

 hemlock. Much of it has been used for 

 lumber, and three " heading " factories 

 have been started in this vicinity to use 

 up that not good for lumber. Now there 

 is talk of starting a wood-pulp factory, 

 to use up the balance. 



That was why I was interested in 



younger trees. If they will bear so 

 quickly as the second growth, together 

 with our thousands of acres of wild rasp- 

 berries and white clover on waste lands, 

 with plenty of aspen, willow, elm, maple, 

 dandelion and fruit blossom to build up 

 on, and lots of golden-rod, asters, and 

 other wild flowers, it will make a honey 

 locality hard to beat in the East. 



ITALIAN BEES. 



May there not be something in the 

 theory of Mr. J. M. Pratt, on page 638, 

 that the brood-combs of black bees pro- 

 duce inferior Italian bees ? Perhaps 

 this letter may draw out some one else. 



Our bees are doing well at present, 

 when it does not rain, which is most of 

 the time. 



DANDELION AS A HONEY-rLANT. 



I wonder if dandelions do as well 

 everywhere as they do here. They have 

 been in bloom now since April 25, and 

 the bees almost desert the fruit-bloom 

 for them during the four or five hours 

 they last each day. 



I am keeping a record of what my bees 

 work on each dajr, and would like to 

 compare notes with some one who is 

 doing the same, at the end of the season. 



Port Allegany, Pa., June 1, 1892. 



Tie Padilocl Pure FooJ Bill. 



J. A. NASH. 



We are specialists in the production 

 of extracted honey, and have watched 

 with interest, not entirely unmixed with 

 disgust, the action of many newspapers 

 in their oppostion of the Bill bearing the 

 above title. 



We find that some of the very worst 

 opposition to this measure comes from 

 the papers that contain the most patent 

 medicine advertisements. The patent 

 medicine men have taken alarm, lest 

 the section relating to adulteration of 

 drugs should make them trouble. This 

 is singular, as a careful reading of the 

 Bill fails to disclose anything at all in- 

 jurious to these people, who are badly 

 alarmed before they are hurt. 



They seem to fear that it will compel 

 theih to disclose their formulas ; this, 

 however, is far from the intention of the 

 bill, as it expressly provides (see Sec. 6), 

 " That nothing in this Act shall be con- 

 strued as requiring or compelling pro- 

 prietors or manufacturers of proprietary 

 medicines to disclose their formulas." 



