THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



185 



the past season that did tlie worst 

 cappings I ever saw ; it was not tit to 

 put on the niarlvet at all, as the cap- 

 ping looked as if completely water- 

 soaked. They build too many burr- 

 combs, make too much use of proi)olis, 

 are not quiet enough and some strains 

 are too small. 



As to Albinos, as a strain, by most 

 breeders they are rather too small and 

 have not yellow enough left on them ; 

 but they have more good qualities 

 than the very yellow bees; they cap 

 their combs whiter, but many of them 

 are too much inclined to build burr 

 combs. 



My experiments show that neitlier 

 an extreme of white, yellow or black 

 in a strain of bees, gives the best re- 

 sults as to good qualities. I have 

 found that bees possessing the most 

 good points have all the colors above 

 named, beautifully combined. The 

 hair is light-colored, the first three 

 bands orange to light orange color, 

 with a fine line of rich, gloss}' black 

 on their edge, and the last three bands 

 a glossy black, with white rings of 

 hair. Bees with such markings are 

 always so far as I have observed vei-y 

 beauliful, and possess more good qual- 

 ities than an}^ other color on markings 

 than I have experimented with. 



Markings for best characteristics. 



For the benefit of those wishing to 

 experiment on this line of color, I 

 will give the particular markings that 

 I have found to give the best character- 

 istics, as well as great beauty : 



The three yellow bands should be 

 orange color — not too dark, but rath- 

 er light, 3-et not too light ; these bands 

 should not be all yellow, as in the case 

 of man}' of the golden Italians, but 

 should have a fine line of g'loss^^ black 

 on their outer edge. 



The fourth band on many of the 

 bees shows slight traces of 3'elloAV on 

 their sides, extending and gradually 

 lessening until on the top there is 

 none to be seen, and, this is as much 

 yellow as any bee should have on the 



fourth band, in my opinion, to possess 

 the most desirabk^ qualities ; the rest of 

 this band is a deep glossy black, with 

 a large ring of light-colored hair. The 

 fifth and sixth bands are of this same 

 glossy black, with the light ring of 

 hair on the fiftli. 



I find that bees with these markings 

 are huge, very prolific, and possess 

 all the desirable qualities of a perfect 

 bee. In short, they have great win- 

 tering qualities, are very large, pro- 

 lific, quiet and beautiful, enter the 

 sections readily, aie not excessive 

 swarmers, not disposed to use an ex- 

 cess of propolis, build few l)urr-combs, 

 and are as fine comb-builders as I ever 

 saw, capping their honey very white. 



I would like to hear from others, on 

 this color question in bees. Do not 

 understand me as sayingthatthese par- 

 ticular colors combined are the cause 

 for these superior qualities — I only 

 mean to say that I have observed that 

 bees with these markings seem to pos- 

 sess these qualities in a marked degree, 

 and this strain that I have had under 

 my observation for the past seven 

 years, having always gone ahead of 

 my own bees that have been made up 

 from all the noted strains of this con- 

 tinent, of all extremes of color, only 

 goes to prove to me that there must 

 be something in a proper combination 

 of these three colors. 



I think this breeding for extremes 

 of any color by our queen breeders is 

 a great mistake. The more they run 

 to extremes of very yellow^ or very 

 white or black, the less good qualities 

 they possess. I am well satisfied it 

 results in deterioration in size as well 

 as in man}' other good qualities and is 

 a failure in getting a beautiful bee." 



1 could not give a better descrip- 

 tion of the Italian bees reared in the 

 Bay State Apiai-y than ]\Ir. VandrufT 

 has done in describing his. I heartily 

 endorse and agree with Mr. V. in all 

 he says concerning the markings of 

 what we call pure Italian bees. 



All the desiraljle qualities of the 

 Italians are sacrificed for color. 



