494 



and given first to the black bees which worked 

 till the liquid was inaccessible, when it was 

 placed before Italians. These would invari- 

 aly commence to sip the honey. Again, a 

 box one-half inch deep, without top or bottom, 

 was covered with fine gauze having fifteen 

 meshes to the inch. A glass was then placed 

 in the box so inclined that while one end 

 rested against the gauze the other was one- 

 half inch from it. The glass was thinly spread 

 with honey on the side next the gauze. This 

 was placed in a hive of Italians when the 

 glass was cleaned of honey for a distance of 

 twenty-four meshes from the edge where the 

 glass rested on the gauze. The black bees 

 coidd only reach, and only cleaned, for nine- 

 teen meshes. Many trials gave the same re- 

 sult. This then shows why Italians can gather, 

 and often do collect from flowers which fail 

 utterly to attract the black bees. The nectar 

 is beyond their reach. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



It would seem from the above that Ameri- 

 can-bred Italian bees have shorter tongues 

 than those direct from Italy. It seems very 

 probable that "Natural Selection," the very 

 law which raised the Italians to their position 

 of superiority, also gave to them their longer 

 tongues. Shut up in their mountain home, a 

 mere isolated basin, where competition must 

 have been very excessive, nature took advan- 

 tage of every favorable variation, and devel- 

 oped those striking excellences peculiar to the 

 Italian. During these ages there was no 

 kindly bee-master possessed of the intelligence 

 sufficient to nurse the weaklings, nor any 

 " Dollar Queen business " to stimulate indis- 

 criminate breeding, and the weak died vic- 

 tims to starvation. And so we are indebted 

 to the stern, inexorable law of nature for the 

 incomparable breeding which wrought out 

 such admirable results in far-famed Liguria. 

 Unquestionably the crowded apiaries of Aus- 

 tria and Germany have heightened the "strug- 

 gle for life," and this had a similar tendency 

 to develop superior excellence in the Euro- 

 pean black bees. It is more than probable 

 that the German bees of crowded Europe 

 have longer tongues and are generally superior 

 to the same in America, where they have long 

 been favored with broad floral areas and com- 

 parative absence of competition. I should 

 expect that this very law might have devel- 

 oped varieties of the black race which are 

 superior to others of the same race. It is 

 more than possible that "survival of the fit- 

 test" explains the origin of the superior varie- 

 ties which are said to exist in various provinces 

 of Europe. For the same reason we should 

 surely expect superior excellence in the 

 Cyprian bees. Crowded as they have been 

 for long years or ages, in their small island 

 home, the principal of " survival of the fittest " 

 must have been working powerfully to weed 



out the inferior and to preserve and make 

 stronger the superior. And so the great poet 

 has well said : " Sweet are the uses of 

 adversity." 



PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS. 



From the above considerations it seems ob- 

 vious, that would we perpetuate the excellen- 

 cies given us by the skilful breeding of nature, 

 though we may not destroy all the feeble, as 

 nature has done, we must assuredly study and 

 observe so closely, that we shall know of a 

 surety which are our very superior queens, 

 and be even more careful to breed from no 

 other. Whether care or carelessness will be 

 most promoted by our present system I leave 

 for you to say. But I do wish that we might 

 have at least a few breeders with time, means, 

 caution, skill and patience, who would work 

 with earnest zeal to not only keep all the ex- 

 cellence we now have, but to augment this 

 excellence as I am sure it may lie augmented. 



But if our cheap queen system is to con- 

 tinue, then, surely, we may well stimulate 

 frequent importations from Italy and Cyprus, 

 and thus hope to compensate in part for what 

 will be lost by hasty, careless and indiscrimi- 

 nate breeding. A. J. Cook. 



Lansing, Mich. 



The Rev. O. Clute remarked that he 

 deemed the subjectof great importance, 

 and that the valuable experiments of 

 Prof. Cook called for more than the 

 usual vote of thanks. lie therefore 

 moved that a special vote of thanks be 

 tendered to Prof. Cook for his valuable 

 essay. Carried. 



James Heddon, Michigan, asked 

 Prof. Cook if other able essays could 

 not be given, especially on the com- 

 parative power of the wings in carrying 

 honey from long distances. 



Prof. Cook answered he had often 

 thought of doing so, but so far his at- 

 tention had been wholly taken up by 

 the tongue experiments. He had often 

 seen Italians, but never black bees on 

 red clover. 



A. A. Winslow, Wis., stated he had 

 often seen black bees on red clover. 



Prof. Cook thought bumble bees may 

 have torn open the honey tubes, and the 

 black bees followed them. 



Mr. Winslow explained the clover 

 was light ; but he had never seen them 

 on rank clover. 



J. Y. Detwiler, O., inquired whether 

 dark or yellow Italians had the longest 

 tongues. 



Prof. Cook. The darker. 



Rev. O. Clute, Iowa, inquired if the 

 yellow as well as the dark had been 

 bred for the best qualities. 



Prof. Cook thought the lighter had 

 been bred more for color than for other 

 qualities. 



