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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



169 



just as fine or even finer. In fact, for 

 my own use I prefer it, as it contains 

 less wax. There may be a strain of 

 Italians wtiich produce as fine looking 

 honey as the other races of bees, but so 

 far I have not yet found and tested any, 

 and I am not fully satisfied that they 

 exist. I would have had occasion to 

 again test at least one strain of Italians 

 of this so-called "superior stock'" in the 

 matter of fine work "capping comb- 

 honey" this season, had we only had a 

 honey-flow. I hope to have the oppor- 

 tunity another season. I would also be 

 very glad to pay friend Doolittle his 

 price for an 1899 tested queen; but he is 

 in the same boat I am in — has had no 

 honey, and cannot tell for certain 

 whether or not the bees from these queens 

 actually do that work. He can only say 

 they are from his tested "comb-honey 

 strain.*' But that does not satisfy me; 

 ai least I do not feel justified in paying 

 a high price. I hope friend Doolittle 

 will not draw the inference from what I 

 have said that I was doubting his sincer- 

 ity when he says his "strain of Italian 

 bees will cap their honey as white as the 

 blacks." But may it not be possible 

 that he has forgotten how nicely the 

 black bees do their work? It is well to 

 refresh our memories from time to time 

 with the facts. I further hope friend 

 Doolittle will take into consideration 

 how much misrepresentation is prac- 

 ticed by advertisers upon an unsus- 

 pecting public, which has made many 

 shy to believe all they read. I honestly 

 believe friend Doolittle does not belong 

 to this class of fraudulent advertisers, 

 yet, he will suffer with the unjust in a 

 measure. I do not know that any other 

 queen-breeder has a better reputation 

 than he; and still one of our best honey- 

 producers, a most fair-minded gentle- 

 man, said at our convention last winter, 

 in substance: "I wish I could be in 

 Doolittle's yard during the honey season, 

 just to satisfy myself whether really his 

 Italians cap their honey as white as do 

 the blacks." From this Brother Doo- 



little may see what the prevailing 

 opinion is hereabout. As to any bees 

 making washboard style honey during a 

 time when thei"e occurs an intermission 

 or dull spell between successive honey 

 flows, I have not observed that one race 

 of bees does any better than another. 

 I don't think, if there is a difference, 

 it can be very striking, or I would have 

 noticed it. I should hardly look for 

 any such difference, for I cannot believe 

 that any bee can gather where there is 

 nothing. 



The special features which make the 

 Italian bee a favorite with the bee- 

 keepers generally are. 1, their beauty; 

 2, their manner of clinging to the combs 

 while being handled, making it easy to 

 find queens; 3, their gentleness; 4. their 

 greater vim and determination to keep 

 their combs free from wax moths and 

 protecting their hives better generally. 

 Along all these lines they do excel the 

 other races by a long way. 



Naples, N.Y., July a^), 1900. 



MEL BONUM APIARY. 



OUR frontispiece this month pre- 

 sents the subject of an interest- 

 ing series of letters, "The Evo- 

 lution of an Apiary," contributed by 

 the proprietor, Mr. H. L. Jones, Goodna, 

 Qu'eensland', Australia, to the Austral- 

 asian Bee-keeper. 



It is interesting to note the progress 

 of our industry around the world; and 

 the case of Mr. Jones corroborates 

 the fact already established that in the 

 hands of the right man very" limited 

 means and a small start frequently 

 outgrow and surpass the more preten- 

 tious business which, though having 

 abundant capital, has not the skill 

 and natural adaptability necessary to 

 success. Mr. Jones' start in bee- 



keeping consisted of a single colony 

 captured in the woods, in 1880. Owing 

 to limited means the care and increase 

 of his stock was carried on for several 

 years without so much as a smoker, 



