EXTRACT FROM AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 389 



member to try to breed out their stings. From a 

 honey bee of the size of the humble bee, with the 

 sting developed in proportion, may the fates deliver 

 us. (Speaking of stingless bees, we may mention 

 that our friend A. 0.' Moore, Esq., who recently re- 

 turned from a tour of several months in Central 

 America, brought with him two varieties of stingless 

 bees, which he left in our office for several days. 

 They are quite peculiar and interesting, and we hope 

 to give a further description of them, with engravings 

 of their appearance, mode of depositing honey, etc.) 

 Here is an extract from Mr. Brackett's letter previ- 

 ously referred to : 



" * * * I think it too soon to form any certain opinion 

 in regard to the Italian bees in this country. We niust, there- 

 fore, still in a great measure, depend on the statements of Ger- 

 man bee-keepers ; and that is universally in favor of their great 

 superiority over the black bee. Dzierzon states, that since he 

 has Italianized his apiaries, his yield of honey has been double 

 that obtained from the same number of common bees. My 

 experience, thus far, satisfies me that they have not been over- 

 rated. The queens are larger and more prolific. The workers, 

 when bred in comb of their own building, are longer, and their 

 honey sacs larger. They are less sensitive to cold, and more 

 industrious. 



" In all my handling of them and I have done so pretty 

 freely, lifting the combs, and examining them almost daily I 

 have never known one to offer to sting. A queen that I re- 

 ceived in June, and introduced to a strong stock of bees, in 

 eleven days filled thirteen sheets of comb with brood and eggs. 

 There is at present scarcely a black bee in the hive, so rapid 

 has been the change. Although I have taken from it large 

 quantities of worker brood and sealed drones, the hive is still 

 overflowing. 



