I 



iiERicAN Bee Journal. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNEE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



Vol. V. 



AP»TiIL, IS'TO. 



No. 10. 



Fancied Faults of Italian Bees. 



Translated for the American Bee Journal. 



At the German Bee-keepers' Convention at Nu- 

 remberg:, in September last, Mr. Kaden, an old 

 apiarian, a time-honored correspondent of the 

 '■• Bienenseitung.,'''' and a warm admirer of the 

 Italian bees, stated tliat " it must be conceded that 

 these bees have some midesirable qualities. First, 

 among these, is an aptitude to change their queens. 

 He had l^nown a colonj^ to make such changes 

 thre|^ times in the course of a single summer, with- 

 out swarming. Secondly, the.y manifested a strong 

 jiiopcnsity to build drone combs. Not only will 

 tirst swarms build such combs, but even second 

 swarms, and artificial colonies with young queens, 

 Avill do so. And, thirdly, Italian colonies are 

 usually less populous in the spring, than those of 

 black bees." When asked, if this be so, why he 

 s'iil cultivated the Italian bees, he said, first be- 

 cause of their beautj^ and gentleness — qualities 

 always overpoweringly attractive, for above ;ill 

 things he dreads the want of gentleness in bees. 

 as well as ladies ! Secondly, for the means af 

 forded by them, of producing hybrid stock, which, 

 for productiveness, he preferred to the pure breeds, 

 whether honey or wax was the object. 



In reply, Dzierzon said, " Undouliledly there is 

 nothing perfect beneath the sun, and the-It;i!ian 

 bee too may have some qualities not exactly de- 

 sirable. Nevertheless, I regard it as the best 

 of the known varieties, and apprehend the last 

 speaker mu.st have looked through glasses some- 

 what discolored, to have seen souuiny serious ob- 

 jections. First, he complains of frequent change 

 of queens. This may be so under peculiar cir- 

 cumstances, and from various causes, to one of 

 Avhieh I will here advert. Whf-n a queen is in- 

 troduced into a colony, we cannot always be sure 

 of what takes place. She mayM-eceive some in- 

 jury not immediately fatal, but sooner or later re- 

 sulting in her death, and tlius necessarily produc- 

 ing a change. But I can give the assurance that , 

 in the course of last summer, in all my colonics 

 not a single queen was superseded, and not one 

 perished ; though in former years this has some- 

 times happened. It may be true also that Italian 

 queens do not attain to the age which black queens 

 ordinaiily reach ; but this springs from their su- 



perior fertility. They lay tlie same number of 

 eggs as others, but in a much shorter period ; 

 which I regard as a decided advantage. 



It is also objected that the Italian bees do not 

 suit a district with early spring pasturage, the 

 colonies being then comparatively weak. An ad- 

 vantage rather, I conceive. The Italian^ cease 

 brooding earlier in the fall, and ajiplj' their extra- 

 ordinary industry to the accumulation of stores 

 while pasturage is diminishing ; and thus, though 

 less populous, are well supplied for the winter. 

 Whereas the black bees, occupied with nursing 

 their brood, gather coni]i;iratively little, and, with 

 many bees, may be in wmit lief'ore spring. The 

 Italians, in their zeal for honey-gathering, may 

 indeed'venture out in unpropitious wa^ather in the 

 fall, and many may thus be lost ; but it is this 

 trait precisely that enables them to produce such 

 extraordinarj' results when pasturage aboundsand 

 the weather is favorable. 



Again, the Italian bees are charged with a pro- 

 pensit}' to build drone combs. Now, I have set 

 uji f<n- trial pure colonies of both kinds, and the 

 issue was just the reverse of tills. I have found 

 no such propensity among the Italians, and have 

 had to insert drone combs in their hives, when a 

 supplj' of drones became desirable ; because the 

 bees in those colonies did not, of tlieir own ac- 

 cord, build such combs. 



I am thus constrained to differ from the last 

 speaker, in these particulars, and must continue 

 to regard the Italian bee as superior to any other 

 of the known varieties, and the best of the culti- 

 vated breed." 



Mr Fiitterer next remarked, " It is urged against ^ 

 tlie Italian bees that they change their queens fie- 

 quently. Judging from my own experience, I 

 must "doulit this. '' I have cultivated these bees 

 ab. ut twelve ytars, and have had no reason to 

 e(;mplain of such changes. They maj^ have oc- 

 curred to otliers,and I will endeavor to show, brief- 

 ly how they maj' be accounted for. An enthusias- 

 tic bee keeper buys a fine large yellow queen— a 

 prime article — and introduces her in one of his 

 colonies. Every few da3rs he is visited by some 

 brother bee-keeper, to whom of course the si)leiidid 

 stranger must be shown. The hive is opened, the 

 woikers more or less irritated, and the beautiful 

 queen exhibited and then returned to her domi- 



10 



