Tmrn SMBRICJEK BBB JQURNSIL. 



393 



from time to time for several years 

 past, about tliis very same trouble 

 amongst bees in different parts of the 

 country ; or if not the same thing, 

 something very eloselj' resembling it ; 

 and I cannot well suppress some feel- 

 ings of uneasiness lest this may prove 

 to be a source of serious diffieultj- to 

 bee-keepers in the near future. 



There are some circumstances con- 

 nected with the breaking out of this 

 disease amongst my bees, which im- 

 presses me with the idea that the cause 

 originates with the queen ; and may be 

 hereditarj' with her, and therefore 

 transmissable from one generation to 

 another of her queen progenj- ; possi- 

 bly, also, the drones may be contami- 

 nated with the disease ; and if such be 

 the case, it is not difficult to conjec- 

 ture how rapidly the difficult}- may in- 

 crease and develop disastrous affects. 

 Of course the foregoing idea is only 

 put forth as a sort of theory, yet I 

 think that I have at least one good 

 reason upon which this theory is based; 

 but I do not feel at liberty to explain 

 that reason at present, for fear that 

 the interests of some other bee-keepers 

 might be affected thereby. 



It is a matter of urgent necessity, 

 that every bee-keeper should be on the 

 alert to guard against, and stamp out 

 at once, anj- and every form of disease 

 on its first appearance amongst his 

 bees ; and I WduUl further suggest that 

 no bee-keeper should allow au\- queens 

 or drones to be reared by the bees in 

 any colony which is in the least de- 

 gi"ee affected with any sj'mptoms of 

 uuhealthfulness, or bare-headed brood, 

 etc. Let all our breeding stock be 

 perfectly sound and healthy. 



Seymour, Wis. 



ITALIAN BEES. 



The Iiitrodiiftion of the Foreign 

 Raees of Bees. 



Written for the Amerinnn Bee Journal 

 BY DR. J. M. HICKS. 



In the first place the German or our 

 native bees were first known in Amer- 

 ica about the latter part of the fifteenth 

 century, being imported by some of 

 the first English settlers ; as I well re- 

 member hearing Grandfather Dempsey 

 Hicks often state, that his father, 

 James Hicks, brought bees with him 

 when he came from England to this 

 country, and that there were no bees 

 to be found in the forests until .after 

 the early settlers brought them. 



It was also a very common saying 

 among the Indians, that there was no 

 bees known here until after the pale- 

 faces (meaning the white men) had 

 come to this country. It seems that 



bees were the proper sign, as recog- 

 nized by the " red man," of an ad- 

 vancement of the whites in settling- 

 new territorj-, and the Indians were 

 .always very jealous, as well as quite 

 superstitious, when they found bees 

 far out from the white settlements. 

 Yet they often got quite a generous 

 supply of honey from aa occasional 

 bee-tree. 



I do not remember of ever h.aving 

 heard of any very great quantity of 

 honey being taken from a colony or 

 bee-tree in one season, by any of the 

 early settlers of America, from the 

 German or black bees ; but since the 

 first introduction of the Italian and 

 Cyprian bees, the great quantity of 

 honey that a single colon}- of bees 

 would gather and store for ther keeper 

 has been surprising, sometimes run- 

 ning up into the hundreds of pounds. 

 Yet it must be remembered that bee- 

 keeping a hundred, or even fifty years 

 ago, was not so well understood for 

 profit as it is now, especiallj- so when 

 we consider the many improvements 

 that we have in more fully understand- 

 ing the science of apiculture, and ap- 

 plying the proper rules in accordance 

 with natural Laws governing the in- 

 stincts and intelligence of these most 

 wonderful insects, thus making them 

 very profitable, as well as useful in a 

 proper fertilization of many plants and 

 field crops, now known to produce 

 much better in neighborhoods where 

 bees are kept, than where the}- are 

 not. 



While all the foregoing is a fact not 

 easily controverteil, from our long ex- 

 perience in bee-keeping we have to 

 yield the point, and say that in many 

 respects the Italian bees, as well as 

 the Holy Laud and Cyprian bees, are 

 by far superior races of bees to those 

 first known in America. In the first 

 place, the Italian bees work on a 

 greater variety of flowers, and on 

 many kinds that the blacks or German 

 bees do not ; above all, they are more 

 easily handled, and the queens can be 

 quickly found, being of a beautiful 

 golden color ; and. best of all, the Ital- 

 ian queens are not so easily fright- 

 ened, often going on with their labors 

 in laying eggs, wliile the bee-keeper is 

 examining a brood-comb. The workers 

 stick more closely to their brood, and 

 are less liable to get irritable while 

 being handled. 



It is also a well authenticated fact 

 that the moth-worms do not bother the 

 Italian bees nearly so much as they do 

 the native bees, but these bees are 

 very vigilant in cleaning them out, 

 even from combs given them that h.ave 

 worms in abundance. 



I know whereof I speak, when I as- 

 sert that even among the Italian bees 

 there is quite a difference in their good 



qualities, just .as it is among the differ- 

 ent breeds of Jersey cows as to their 

 milking-qualities. 



Look well to the bees, and they in 

 turn will more- than repay for all pains 

 taken in their behalf. Sow buckwheat 

 .about June 10 or June 20, for both 

 honey and a good yield of seed. The 

 "silverhull"' variety is perhaps the 

 best ; if this cannot be had. I would 

 recommend the J.apanese buckwheat 

 as being next best, as well as a fine- 

 grain-producing variety. 



Indianapolis, Ind. 



SIZE OF HIVES. 



Large T§.Sinall Brood-Ciiaiiiber» 

 in Hives. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 

 BY CHAS. DADANT. 



In answer to my criticism, on page 

 342 Mr. Hutchinson writes, that in re- 

 fusing to publish my article, he was 

 not .actu.ated by any motives of par- 

 tiality ; adiling that he prefers to be 

 misjudged by those who cannot take 

 his simple word, rather than still 

 further wound my feelings. This last 

 phrase implies that I would be ashamed 

 to see in print the article refused. 



Of course, I am not as brilliant a 

 writer as Mr. Hutchinson, and my 

 article would hiive lowered the stan- 

 dard of excellence of the Jicvieiv, to 

 use the terms bestowed on his paper 

 by the editor, in his December num- 

 ber. Yet, the article would have been 

 welcomed, had I not praised the large 

 hives, which are the nightmare of Mr. 

 Hutchinson, who can find room in his 

 paper neither for their praise nor for 

 the slightest criticism of the Heddon 

 hive, as I will demonstrate further on. 



In their December numbers, both 

 the AjjimlturiH and the licvieiv invited 

 their correspondents to write articles 

 on "Hives," for their next issues. The 

 ApicuUurist iniblished eleven articles 

 on this topic in its January issue, and 

 three in its February number ; while 

 the Review published but six in all ; 

 not for lack of room, for the Janu.aiy 

 number had an article on " Diarrhea," 

 which occupies two-and-half columns ; 

 not for want of articles, for Mr. Hutt;h- 

 insou wrote in the February number of 

 the Review, on page 27, as follows : 



Lakge HnT.s.— It is impossible to notice, 

 let alone publisliing, all the articles on hives 

 that have been received. A. L. Leach, of 

 DwiRht, Ills., very kindly sends an account 

 of his experience with hives of different 

 sizes. His preference is a large hive ; and 

 the reasons are that the bees swarui less, 

 and more honey is secured — 



Mr. Hutchinson continues with his 

 usual criticism. Was the article sent 

 to the waste basket on account of the 



