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EDITORIAL, 



In another part of the Bee-Keeper 

 will be found an article relating to 

 Carniolan hoes. There has been for a 

 long time considerable controversy 

 over the question of pure Carniolan 

 bees. We have made as thorough in- 

 vestigation of the matter of late, as 

 possible, and will give our readers the 

 benefit of our researches. 



In the first place Carniolan bees 

 come from Carniola, a province of 

 south-west Austria, separated from 

 Italy by the narrow province of Goritz. 

 The country there is quite mountain- 

 ous, the Julian Alps extending be- 

 tween Carniola and Italy, That part 

 called Krain is a very small section 

 situated well up the mountains. From 

 this section come the gray bees, while 

 it seems that in descending the moun- 

 tain the less gray the bees become, and 

 finally we find them in the valleys al- 

 most entirely of a yellow or golden 

 color This is especially noticable on 

 the southern slope of the mountain. 



Whether the yellow Carniolans are a 

 cross of the Italian and gray Carniolan 

 or not, wo do not pretend to know, al- 

 though at first thought it seems quite 

 likely that such is the case, and while 

 it is not at all improbable, we are in- 

 clined to believe that the yellow Car- 

 niolan bees are as much a distinct type 

 as those having gray coloring, for we 

 are in possession of undisputable au- 

 thority for the fact that yellow Carnio- 

 lan bees exist in Carniola, and there is 

 no strongei proof of the purity of one 

 type than the other. It is not at all 

 improbable that all Carniolan bees 

 originally came from Italy the same as 

 Italian bees came from Egypt, but 

 owing to the difference of climates 

 they gradually acquired different char- 

 acteristics. This being the case we 

 would naturally suppose that the gray 

 or mountainous Carniolans would he 

 hardier than the yellow variety com- 

 ing from warmer ' climates, although 

 this would not necessarily make the 

 yellow variety inferior for our climate, 

 as the Italians come from a still warm- 

 er climate and are regarded by the ma- 

 jority of bee-keepers to be the hardiest 

 bee we have. Thus we conclude that 

 the Carniolan bee can be eiiher gray 

 or may show yellow mat-kings and still 

 be a pure Carniolan, but as to the su- 

 perior merits of either we have yet to 

 hear conclusive testimony before be- 

 ing convinced. 



We note that Mr. Alley says in his 

 communication elsewhere that there is 

 no disputing the assertion that the 

 Golden Carniolans are the original 

 yellow race of bees. We cannot prove 

 Otherwise, nor can we disprove the as- 

 sertion, should one be made, that the 

 Carniolans sprung from the common 

 black bee, that, hjwever, we reasona- 



