189G. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



39 



objections which some had brought 

 up against a larger bee than our do- 

 mestic bee : 



" ' Some one has stated that 1 thought 

 Apis dorsata could be crossed with our 

 hive-bees. But no one can point out 

 where I said it nor show it over my 

 name. I have, however, stated that, 

 considering the fact that the drones 

 oi. Apis dorsata are about the same 

 size as our own, it is possible they would 

 mate and produce offspring. But 

 that does not in the least imply that I 

 think they would do so. And the fact is 

 I consider it extremely doubtful, — 

 another case where only careful ex- 

 periment will decide. Distinct species 

 of animals do cross, and occasional 

 instances have been noted where the 

 offspring has proved fertile. The 

 drones of Apis dorsata resemble very 

 much those of Apis mellifica in size 

 and general appearance, which argues 

 in fav'or of their crossing, but their 

 habits differ somewhat, which is, of 

 course, against it. Whether, should 

 they cross, the result w^ould be an im- 

 provement is also a question which 

 only actual trial will ever settle. 



" JNIr. Benton closes with the follow- 

 ing : 



"'In conclusion I would add that 

 the settlement of all these points and 

 other interesting and more purely 

 scientific ones connected with these 

 bees, is something which I have long 

 believed worth the effort and expense 

 of another journey to India. In this 

 opinion Mr. Dathe agrees with me 

 fully, and he even proposed when I 

 met him in Fairport at one of the 

 great German-American bee-conven- 

 tions, that we undertake together a 

 journey to India after Apis dorsata. 



But the uncertainty of direct personal 

 gain, indeed I might say the certainty 

 of not being able to cover the personal 

 expenses of such a journey if under- 

 taken privately, together with the 

 fact that it would require some ready 

 capital at the outset, will probably 

 leave such work to be performed, as 

 it ought to be, by our national gov- 

 ernment, which spends annually many 

 thousands or dftllars for the further- 

 ance of her agricultural interests and 

 for the advancement of pure and ap- 

 plied sciences.' " 

 Washington, D. C. 



THE ICE AGE. 



For centuries the North was an ice-locked 

 land, and conditions of life had changed. 

 From the pole to the southern ice limit, not 

 one mountain projected its head above the 

 unbroken snow: even Mount Washington 

 was deep down under the surface. 



Manhattan Island lay buried at least fif- 

 teen hundred feet under the ice ; a wild, 

 weird stillness rested over this favored spot, 

 interrupted only by the crashing of the ice 

 as pieces broke from the end of the glacier 

 beyond the Narrows and, as icebergs, floated 

 out to sea. 



Ages had now passed since man first ap- 

 peared in his primeval home. Some pro- 

 gress the race had made, but man was siill 

 a rude and untutored savage : his crude 

 weapons were only pieces of roughly chipp- 

 ed stone ; but it was man with progressive 

 and endless mind. And as the years pass- 

 ed the rude palfeolithic ancestor gave place 

 to men with a higher degree ot primitive 

 art ; fiint tipped arrows and axes of stone 

 now gave man the mastery over every ani- 

 mal: food was uo longer a matter of cliance, 

 but a matter of skill Siill, at war with the 

 elements, wild beasts, and savage neighbors, 

 it was a fearful struggle : the world at the 

 best was then no Garden of Eden. 



For twenty thousand years or more the 

 ice, with iis variou> advances and retreats, 

 covered the North. Then began its final 

 departure ; but it was probably as slow in 

 going as it had been in coming. The land 

 began gradually to sink, tlie waiers became 

 milder, and the summers longer. — Harvey 

 B. Bashore, in February Lippincott's. 



