152 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



more evidence of tlie inconsistent way 

 in wliicli the editor of the B. B. J. 

 treats the discussion of the Punic bees. 



PUNIC BKES AND THOSE WHO KNOW NOTH- 

 ING ABOUT THICM. 



In the "-B. B. J." for August 27t]i 

 some one signing himself "Inquirer" 

 wants to know who I am, my real 

 name, etc., and he also feigns ignor- 

 ance to "A. L. B, K." Messrs. Stokes 

 and Robinson who are mentioned in 

 the Journal on August 20, and "if 

 they are known in the bee world as 

 bee men of experience," and runs to 

 Messrs. Cowan and Carr to advise 

 him to have nothing to do with Fu- 

 nics. These kind persons, Cowan & 

 Co., preface their advice by saying, 

 "As a rule we do not like to import 

 into our columns controversies origi- 

 nating in other journals," a vei\y good 

 rule too, but they have not adhered 

 to it. They do not say that the Pu- 

 nic stock in Mr. W. B. Carr's ai)iary 

 in the spring of 1890 was the "■l)est 

 and strongest" he had (see Record for 

 June, 1890). They do not say that 

 Punic bees were mentioned in their 

 jonrnal on June 5, 1890, and where 

 they came from ; nor do the}' say that 

 when Mr. J. W. Wood ley wrote on 

 October 30, 1890, condemning them 

 •before he had ever seen a bee, I wrote 

 oftering to su[)ply him with two queens 

 to be tested against any two he 

 chose, and if tliey failed I would 

 anake up the difference. Oh ! for con- 

 sistency. They would on no account 

 ■break their rule, made for the occa- 

 sion, to do me a favor, but they brcMk 

 it on the first o[)portunity to do me 

 ■something else. 



I never had a very high opinion of 

 their accurac}', and certainly it is not 

 limpi'oved after reading the following : 

 — '•'! he only other person besides 'A 

 Halhunshire Beekeeper' (otherwise 

 John Hewitt), who has written in fa- 

 vor of Punic bees is E. L. Pratt." Mr. 

 Henry Alley says, in the Apicullurist 

 for August, "Our opinion is most fa- 



vorable of them. If the Punic bees 

 are one-half as good as is claimed 

 every beekeei)er will want them, and 

 all other races will be superseded, and 

 now that we have seen tliese bees and 

 liave become convinced of tlieir su- 

 periority we shall commence to rear 

 them." If this is not "in favor of 

 Punic bees" I should like to know 

 what is. I have never seen nor ex- 

 changed a line with Mr. Alley. An- 

 other person I will name who has 

 written in favor of Punic bees is Mr. 

 W. B. Carr, one of the editors of the 

 B. B. J., but this was before he found 

 out how diflflcult it was to import 

 them ; yet these learned editors now 

 say, "We know nothing about the so- 

 called Punic bees, and can give no in- 

 formation as to their value." 



"Inquirer" thinks he makes a great 

 point of the bees being here seven 

 years. Is it seven ^ears since 1886? 

 1 trust you will find space for this in 

 the Journal, if the editors of the B. 

 B. J. can make it convenient to breali 

 their rule again and im[)ort it into tlieir 

 columns. It is no use my sending it 

 to them, as it wouh] l)e destroyed 

 judging from past experience. "In- 

 quirer" should lemember that it is in 

 ver}^ bad form to ask for a writer's 

 name without giving his own, and I 

 think no editors, save those who con- 

 duct the B. B ,/., would either have 

 printed the anonymous request or sup- 

 l)hed the information. Anyone send- 

 ing his name and address to John 

 Hewitt & Co., Sheffield, can learn all 

 al)out — A Hallamshikk Bekkekper. 



Oh ! no, the funny editors of the B. 

 B. J. dare not let any person sa}' one 

 word in favor of the Punic bees in 

 their columns. They have the space 

 however, for an ines|)onsil)le party to 

 attack and vilify a friend whom they 

 have known for years. In a recent 

 issue of that pa[)er a|)i)eared a short 

 article from a man (I say man, 'though 

 he is no part of a man or of a gentle- 

 man), who styles himself, A. Low- 

 master. This man, we regret to say, 

 makes his home in this country. How- 



