50 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



[Sept. 



But if hoiieydew be, in fact, not ijroduced by 

 aphides alone, but be secreted also by the leaves 

 of trees, there should necessarily be a recogniza- 

 ble qualitative difference between the two pro- 

 ducts, emanating from sources so dissimilar. 

 Has any one ever detected a difference or even 

 attemi:>ted to ascertain whether there is any? I 

 am exceedingly anxious to learn the reasons 

 which constrain so sound a thinker as the Baron 

 to accept or assume a two-fold origin of honey- 

 dew. The possible circumstance that when no 

 honeydews occur no aiahides are visible, would 

 by no means be conclusive. Aphides notoriously 

 make their appearance suddenly, and as sud- 

 denly disappear, so that frequently they are 

 vanished already when their exuvite or their 

 products are observed. Possibly, too, the sac- 

 charine matter of the honeydew may have be- 

 come dried up before its existence was noticed, 

 then followed a gentle rain or heavy dew, render- 

 ing it soluble again and available for the bees ; 

 and as these are now tirst seen visiting it, the 

 superficial observer infers that it was produced 

 quite recently, perhaps only in the previous 

 night. That the honeydew seen on evergreens 

 is the product of a coccus, is a fact not only 

 visible but tangible, though the inexperienced 

 may, in this case also, readily regard the coccus 

 as a diseased secretion of the affected pine 

 branch. 



That the saccharine matter found issuing 

 from the vetch, the horsebean, the still closed 

 blossoms of the centaury, and the strongly 

 swollen buds of the pear tree, and on other 

 leaves and twigs recently pierced by bugs or 

 larvae, is a vegetable exudation, is very well 

 known. Such exudations, forming rich sources 

 of supplies for bees, do not, however, come 

 strictly under the category of honeydews proper. 

 But that the latter should at times be the pro- 

 duct of aphides, and again a vegetable exuda- 

 tion or secretion ; and that there should yet be 

 no essential difference in its composition cog- 

 nizable, I cannot possibly believe. If the Baron 

 has irrefragible evidence to sustain his views, I 

 wish he would communicate it, that light may 

 at last be shed on this subject. The notions of 

 those who regard aphides as never the producers, 

 but as always the consumers of honeydew, de- 

 serve no refutation. They refute themselves. 



DZIEKZON. 



CarUmarU, \f, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Nomenclature in Bee-culture. 



Agkicultural College, 



Lansing, Mich., July 21, 1871. 

 Editor Bee Jourkal, 



Dear Sir :— It has often seemed to me, that 

 writers on bee-culture are at times unnecessarily 

 obscure, and often misled by confusion in the 

 use of terms — especially in tlie use of the words 

 species, races and variety. Those words, seeming 

 to possess in the minds of writers no definite 

 meaning, are generally used in a purely arbi- 



trary sense. I fully believe that we should 

 make real substantial progress, if we would 

 unite in giving these terms a definite meaning. 



Now, drojiping the DarM'inian idea that all 

 life is derived from some simplest form, which is 

 yet far from being proved, we can say that a 

 SPECIES includes all of those animals which have 

 had a common origin, and are capable of an in- 

 definite fertile reproduction through the sexes. 

 Thus cattle are of one species, as we suppose all 

 have come from one stock, and they are ever 

 fertile with each other. 



A RACE on the other hand, includes animals 

 bred with care and possessing certain character- 

 istics of form, color and temperament, which 

 they impart to their progeny with more or less 

 certainty, as they have been bred with more or 

 less care. Now, while the characters of species 

 are persistent, tlie characters of a race from the 

 very manner of their origin are not so fixed. 

 Thus in the cattle species we have several races, 

 as the Devons, the Ayrshire, &c. If the Devons 

 are well bred they will almost invariably show 

 the clear, symmetrical horns, the deep red color, 

 the fine trim form and quick elastic tread. Yet 

 from the principle of atavism or animals resem- 

 bling a remote ancestry, even the best bred 

 Devon might have short horns, white hair, and 

 a heavy form. This would be improbable, not 

 impossible. Thus, while a species, as cattle, 

 would always be cattle, a race might give in- 

 crease that would so vary as not to be recog- 

 nizable : though among thoroughly bred animals 

 marked variations seldom occur. 



Now the word variety is frequently used in 

 the same sense of race. Yet we think this 

 unfortunate, and would recommend that our 

 apiarists should avoid such use ; as it is often 

 employed in another sense, and giving to the 

 same word a double meaning does not tend to 

 clearness. We would restrict the term variety 

 to those members of a race which show minor 

 differences, that may be very temporary, or by 

 careful selection in breeding, may become more 

 persistent. Thus%ve have the red and the white 

 variety of Durhams. 



As we come to apply this improved nomen- 

 clature to bees, we think all will see and recog- 

 nize its advantages over the present loose system 

 of expression. 



The Apis Mellifica or hive bee is a species, 

 and includes the German, Italian and Egyptian 

 bees, all of which come from an original pair. 

 These all readily cross, and the offspring are 

 always fertile with each other. Their charac- 

 ters as a species are persistent — as all possess 

 males, perfect, and imperfect females in the same 

 colony, and the queen takes no part except to 

 deposit the eggs. 



The black, Italian, and Egyptian bees are 

 races. Being bred for long years in different 

 localities, and with different surroundings, they 

 have each become possessed of peculiar mark- 

 ings, habits, and temperaments, which, as will 

 be understood from the character of a race, are 

 liable to vary. From the law of atavism already 

 mentioned, any of these races may occasionally 

 show characters of the others, and still be pure 

 breeds. 



