1871.] 



THE AMEKICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



77 



injure the quality of the workers, as they will 

 gather as much honey, are quite as watchful, 

 and withal as desirable to the beekeeper. 



Hoping- that others have had better success 

 than I have had this season, and wishing the 

 Journal i^rosperity, I remain an 



Amateuu. 



Sept. 2, 1871. 



ES"°Of course there can be no objection to ex- 

 periments made to test the truth of the Dzierzon 

 theory, though a knowledge of what has been 

 done would much facilitate the progress aiid 

 save trouble and useless labor in that direction. 

 Those who make such experiments should take 

 special care, also, that the queens they select to 

 start with are of undoubted purity, if they 

 would liope to reach conclusive results. 



The deceptions appearances in apiaries of 

 common bees that have led observers astray, it 

 should be borne in mind, did not present them- 

 selves till after the second season subsequent to 

 the introduction of Italian bees in the vicinity 

 of such apiaries — which fact divests the phe- 

 nomena of their supposed significance. In a few 

 years after that event, very few pure common 

 queens will be found within a radius of five or 

 six miles from an Italian stock, and observations 

 made in such neighborhoods or under such 

 circumstances, are exceedingly fallacious. 



Experiments instituted with either common or 

 Italian queens of unquestionable iDurity, we are 

 well assured, will always result in confirming 

 Dzierzon's theory : and the sooner they are 

 made, and the more frequently repeated, with 

 due and indispensable precautions, the sooner 

 will all doubts be removed from the minds of 

 candid inquirers. — [Ed. 



[For the Amcvican Bee Journal.] 



The "Coming Bee." 



Mk. Editor.— It is long since I contributed 

 anything to the .lournal, and doubtless a much 

 longer time might have elapsed ere I would have 

 trespassed on your indulgence, but for the fact 

 that I wish to call the attention of be&keepers to 

 the subject which heads this article. 



Since the introduction of the Italian bee in our 

 country in 1860, it has been held up to bee- 

 keejjers throughout the land as what Dzierzon 

 calls it, the " n^ j)Zm.? ultra of been.'''' This 

 flaming endorsement was doubtless merited at 

 the time of its introduction ; but it now has a 

 rival in the field, which, in my opinion, is destined 

 soon to force our striped beauties to a secondary 

 position. The bee I refer to is a cross between 

 the Italian and the black bee, favoring tlie latter 

 in general appearance more than the Italians. 



The queens of these bees are not as dark as 

 those of the pure blacks, but are longer and larger 

 than those of either of the pure races, ver^ 

 active, inclined to hide, wonderfully prolific, 

 driving the workers out of the " brood chamber" 

 into the surplus receptacles, whether boxe^ or 

 " store combs ;" and not, as is too often the case 

 with the Italians, allowing the workers to fill the 

 brood combs with honey. 



The bees of this kind are very docile, easily 

 handled, and readily shaken from the combs. 

 Their wings are large, and their range of flight 

 and acuteness of scent greatly superior to those 

 of the Italians. Their bodies, when young, have 

 a gray and hairy appearance all over. The 

 wings on the abdomen are well deflned, very 

 light-colored, but not quite as light as those of 

 the Italians. Although it is diflicult at present 

 to describe these bees, yet by one familiar with 

 them, they are easily recognized. 



What their looks and appearance will be when 

 they are worked into a distinct breed, it is diffi- 

 cult to conjecture. But a mixpcl race or cross 

 between the native and the Italian, is what we 

 want. We want a bee not for slww, but for 

 honey gathering ; and that such is to become 

 the favorite with beekeepers, 1 am fully per- 

 suaded . 



The advantages of these bees are, first, their 

 prolificness ; second, their disposition to store 

 honey in boxes or in any place accessible ; fourth, 

 their being less disposed to swarm than the 

 Italians or blacks, and they are more easily 

 managed as non-swarmers ; fifth, when they do 

 swarm, whether as prime or aftei'-swarms, the 

 swarms are invariably lai'ge, as might be ex- 

 pected from their prolific queens. and disinclina- 

 tion to swarm ; sixth, they are easily handled, 

 and very readily drop from the combs when 

 shaken ; seventh, their range of flight and acute- 

 ness of scent, are greater than tliose of either 

 the Italians or blacks ; eighth, they are more 

 disi)osed to build wrjrfce;* combs than the Italians. 



I wish friend Grimm, instead of banishing the 

 black bee out of his neighborhood, had experi- 

 mented ui3on crosses a little further than half- 

 breeds. It is not my intention to say aught against 

 the Italians, notwithstanding they have their 

 faults, but simply to call the attention of bee- 

 keepers to the advantage of carrying the crossing 

 process beyond the cross half-breed. The "coming 

 bee" will, in my opinion, be very closely related 

 to the common black bee, but with enough of Ital- 

 ian, blood in it to form a distinct breed. 



Let those who have black bees, procure Italitns 

 as quickly as possible, and tiiey will soon see 

 the advantage of a mixed race; and after the 

 first cross there will be no more trouble about 

 handling. I hope that those who have had ex- 

 perience with the kind of bees I have written 

 about, will tell " their experience" to the Inem- 

 bers of the beekeeping fraternity, for I suppose 

 that others, besides myself, have noted the great 

 advantage of these bees. Tlie few that I have 

 had for the past two years have stored nearly 

 d'nible the quantity of honey stored by my Ital- 

 ians ; and are not nearly so troublesome to 

 handle, for they rztn from smoke quicker, and 

 are shaken from the combs very easily. 



G. A. Wright. 



Orchard, lotca, Aug. 14, 1871. 



I^^We suspect that 'the "coming bee" is 

 still further in the distant future than our cor- 

 respondent imagines. The second, third, fourth, 

 or even the fifth generation of ci'oss-bred bees, 

 taken as they run or fly, is not likely to have a 

 fixed character, transmissible with certainty 



