40 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



her of otliers. Mr. S. has also pro- 

 duced a stniiu of wliite l)aiidcd bees that 

 are not related in anyway to Mr. Pike's 

 stock, and now has one of my best 

 queens iu his apiary for breeding pur- 

 poses. By interchanging stock from 

 distant apiaries we cau steadily im- 

 prove the beautiful white bees both iu 

 regular markings and in working qual- 

 ities. 



The vigor of my own stock is shown 

 from the fact that no other bees in this 

 locality did as well the past season in 

 producing comb honey, the largest 

 yield, exceeding by 75 pounds the best 

 record heretofore made in this county. 

 My best swarms produced from 80 

 to 144: pounds each of comb honey in 

 one-pound sections. As the above 

 yields were from white clover aloue it 

 is safe to say that my stock has not 

 been injured by the limited in-breed- 

 ing practised. 



Could Mr. Pike get his own stock 

 back again, pure, it would be only a 

 continuation of in-breeding to cross his 

 bees with them. But the chances are 

 few that he could get his stock back 

 pure, and hence, this move is one that 

 Mr. Pike should make, if not already 

 too late from long and persistent in- 

 breeding. 



There is no question about the result 

 of the continued in- breeding of bees. 

 The queens become uni)rolitic and the 

 workers indolent, and I think the vi- 

 tality is also seriously impaired. They 

 become, in fact, like some of our high 

 class in-bred poultry,— so delicate that 

 they must be cooped up in warm quar- 

 ters beyond the reach of cold and wet. 

 Even tiien they are poor sickly things 

 as compared with the average dung 

 hill fowl of the farm. Yes, it is "good 

 policy to infuse fresh blood into the 

 apiary by introducing a few strange 

 queens each year." 



In regard to the extent that in-breed- 

 ing may result in an apiary of 50 colo- 

 nies it should be remembered that 

 young queens never mate with brother 

 drones, if there are others to l)e found 

 liaving a foreign scent. I have tested 

 til is matter a number of times and 

 know tliata queen will not mate with a 

 drone from the same hive, even thouuh 

 not related, until after many fruitless 

 eflbrts to tind other drones. If the in- 

 stinct of the queens is against close 

 in-breeding, we may well take caution 

 and profit accordingly ; for, if nothing 

 else happens the working quality of the 

 bees will be impaired. 



ANSWERS BY J. K. POND. 



1. I have never considered the so 

 called Albino bee, anything but a light 

 colored Italian. Some years ago I 

 bred a queen that I afterwards sold to ■ 

 Mr. Henry Alley, whose workers and 

 tlrones were both the most beautiful 

 light yellow in color I ever saw, far 

 exceeding in beauty (if light yellow is 

 considered beauty) and gentleness any 

 bees I ever saw; in fact more than half 

 the workers from this queen showed 

 four distinct yellow bands. Mr. Alley 

 can tell the rest of the above story. 

 The mother of the above mentioned 

 queen was from Biadley's stock; and, 

 while a good prolitlc queen Was not, 

 particularly handsome and the drone 

 that must have fertilized said queen 

 was hardly medium in color. The 

 above workers were quiet and gentle 

 as flies, and for honey gatherers," were 

 about as useful. 



I have never thought that in-and-in- 

 breeding could injure bees to any ex- 

 tent, as it is almost impossible to breed 

 so closely as to cause damage ; neither 

 do I think that the so-called Albino is 

 the result thereof. It is a fully proved 

 fact to myself that Italian queens when 

 bred here for some time and purely 

 mated, and cross mated too, will grad- 

 ually grow more and more light yellow 

 in color. The term Albino as applied 

 to bees is a misnomer; when under- 

 stood, however, to mean light yellow in 

 color it may be used, but never cor- 

 rectly. I do not think the albinos can 

 be either made or preserved as such by 

 inbreeding and while I think as above 

 stated, I still think it well to infuse 

 new blood occasionally, from well 

 known and reliable sources. 



I have seen Albinos of the Pike 

 strain(?), that no one could tell from 

 Italians, and not very ligiit colored 

 ones either; and the queen, mentioned 

 in the tirst part of this answer, pro- 

 duced workers much lighter in color 

 than any albino I ever saw In regard 

 to strains of Albinos I don't believe in 

 them, and I know that Mr Alley breeds 

 queens every year that are not Albinos, 

 yet still are equally as handsome, pro- 

 iitic and good honey gatherers as any 

 ever bred any where. Mr. Doolittle, 

 after years of testing, prefers the bees 

 bred by himself to the imported, and 

 his strain has been bred by him for 

 years. As a matter of fact the term 

 Albino to me is synonymous with hum- 

 bug. 



Foxboro, Mass. 



