THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



91 



her eggs, wliicli are a part of herself, will par- 

 take 11) ji ccnuiii extent of (lie nature of (he 

 drone. ThercCoro, Iicr drone proven}', allhoni^h 

 uol liylnMils, \\i I show uiiMiistakcahle cvuh'nce 

 of th<' iiiducnce of (he male parent. Not only 

 so, lint thi! euffs of a qnecii are affected liy (he 

 iniprcuna'iion (hat proihieed herself. In other 

 Avords, thuiinprennalion of an egg does not end 

 Avilli (he production of a queen-hee, hut through 

 her system is transmitted to her eggs sulMcicnt 

 to cause (hem to produce drones. In this way 

 we can without diiViculty account for the pro- 

 duction of drones from the egg of an uuimpreg- 

 nated ciueeu. 



If breeders of Italian queens will accept and 

 acknowledge the above truths, there is an end 

 to the discussion of the purity and non-purity of 

 the "three-handed," '-two-handed," and "one- 

 banded" bees. For it must be clearly seen that 

 if (pieens to the tliird and fourth generation 

 continue to mate or cohabit with drones pro- 

 duced from a (pieen that has mated with a com- 

 mon drone, their jirogenies, though not hybrids, 

 will show the intUicnce of the black race by the 

 number of bands, some of the bees losing one 

 and perhaps two bands. Hybrid bees not only 

 lose one and (wo, but even the three bands, ap- 

 pearing as black as the native bees — showing the 

 Italian blood, however, in the shape of the abdo- 

 men, wliich is more pointed than that of the 

 black. 



In order, then, to improve the purity (if I 

 may be allowed the expression) of our Italian 

 bees, it is only necessary for breeders of Italian 

 queens to destroy all drones produced by what 

 we call hybrid queens, or queens that have mated 

 with common drones, allowing their queens to 

 cohabit only with drones produced by queens 

 that mated with an Italian drone. This every 

 honest breeder will endeavor to do when purity 

 of race is desired. 



But while speaking of the purity of Italian 

 bees, I must say tliat I fail to see that Professor 

 Varro's "impeccability of temper" and A. J. 

 Root's "breathing" process are of any value in 

 testing the purity of Italian bees, for two reasons. 

 Firat, neitlier test is needed, or of any avail in 

 proving tlieir purity. Second, both are liable to 

 failure. It must be at once conceded that im- 

 peccability of temper, or a disposition to bear 

 being breathed upon belongs only to three-banded 

 bees; and as a hybrid cpieen never produces a 

 full colony of such, therefore three-banded bees 

 are pure, and no further test is needed, Again, 

 there arc times when Professor Varro's "bees 

 will be found wanting impeccability of temper. 

 If not when operated upon by himself, they will 

 when operated upon by some other person, the 

 effluvium of whose body shall not be so accepta- 

 ble as that of his own. Nothing can be more 

 certain than that son>c persons are far more likely 

 to be stung than others. I think my Italians 

 pure, but I find them quite too ready to stintr, 

 yet not so much inclined to do so as the natives 

 or the hybrids. If Professor Varro or any other 

 person has Italian bees that will not stiii"; me, 

 let them set their own price and thev shall have 

 it. ' J. H.' Thomas. 



Bkooklin, Oktakio. 



[For the American Hee Jonrual.] 



Wintering Bees in the Ground. 



]\Ii{. Editok: In resjionsc to the inquiry of 

 VY. T. in your September number, page f;8, I 

 would say (hat low and uniform Knnperalure, 

 dryness, darkness, (ranquilily, srcuiiiy airainst 

 mice, and slow renewal of air, are conditions 

 required for wintering bees in the ground. I 

 use the mode which experience has proved suc- 

 cessful. 



In well drained sloping ground, I dig a ditch 

 half a foot (l(!ep r than my hives are tall, and 

 one foot wider than they are broad. I drain 

 that (liteli for greater security. If fearing the 

 falling in of the earth, I stay the ground with 

 some old planks. Tlieu 1 lay in the bottom 

 two 4x4 inch beams. Upon these I place my 

 hives, having i^reviously raised tliem from their 

 boltom boards by iiiserting strips of half inch 

 laths. I remove top-boxes and leave open all 

 the holes in the honey-boards, in order to give 

 the bees plenty of air. Then with plaisterer's 

 laths I frame pipes or flues, the longer ones des- 

 cending to within four or live inches of the 

 bottom; the shorter ones to be placed in the 

 roof. I place one of these flues at each end of 

 the ditch, and another after each third hive — 

 alternating a long and a short one. Finally, I 

 prepare a support for a double-sloping roof of 

 old boards; and then cover the roof vfith straw 

 nearly a foot high, and place on that a lajer of 

 eaith equally thick— making together eighteen 

 or twenty inches. 



By these means bees are maintained in a low 

 temperature, and remain dormant for mouths, 

 consuming little honey; and are all alive and 

 active in the spring. 



This is the best way to preserve feeble and 

 poorly supplied stocks. 



Last year I wintered some third swarms in 

 the ground, giving them honey in boxes, which 

 remained untouched— the small quantity of 

 honey they had in their hives, having been suf- 

 ficient for their support. 



I came from France four years ago, and am 

 my own instructor. 1 shall receivelhe French 

 Bee Joiirnul and will translate for you such ar- 

 ticles as I may deem serviceable to bee-keepers 

 in my new country. 



Chakles Dadant. 



IIamiltox, III. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Mr. Editoii: Referring you and the readers 

 of the "Jouuxal" to my iormcr article, (see 

 Bee JouiiNAL, Vol. 3, No 4, pages G;3 and 04,) 

 I propose, after relating a further experiment in 

 bee-culture, to give (he rcsuU of such experience 

 during (he bee season just now closed. 



On April 1, 18G7, after careful examination, I 

 found (hat out of thirteen colonies of the fall of 

 1800, I had eight in fair condition, two quite 

 weak and light, and four dead ones, or rather 

 the remnants (hereof On Ajiril 14th, I discov- 

 ered that one of my we di colonies was being 

 robbed by one of my strongest. On this I at 

 once removed the colony that wasbeing robbed 

 from its stand, opened and examined i(, and 



