1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



19 



I have seen Mr. Langstroth's hive, because Mr. 

 Backus brought one of them from America, in 1858 

 to the city of Gotba, where we stocked it with bees. 



If 1 had seen the hive in 1851, I would have pro- 

 nounced it excellent, but in 1858 the improvements in 

 Germany were far superior to it. Mr. King never had 

 any intention to deceive or influence me to his advan- 

 tage, but, on the contrary, always asserted that lie 

 only wanted to find out what was right and true, and 

 for this purpose would willingly stand any sacrifice. 



At the same time, a misunderstanding is possible, 

 as all our business bad to be conducted through an 

 interpreter ; and besides my own ill-health made all 

 mental labor more difficult, aud my bodily condition 

 make6 me now hope that this statement will end my 

 duty in the premises. 



Respectfully, 

 August Bakon Von Behlepsch. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Is the Italian Bee superior to the Native ? 



The Italian bee made its first appearance in 

 this country under the most auspicious circum- 

 stances. In the first place, it was a foreign im- 

 portation and came to us with a European repu- 

 tion. It is characteristic of the American people 

 to give an extravagant reception to all European 

 celebrities and scions of royalty, and an undue 

 importance to foreign importations Things of 

 foreign importation are taken for granted to be 

 superior to those we have at home, frequently 

 without proper investigation and comparison ; 

 aud it is only necessary for cattle, sheep or hogs, 

 drygoods or hardware to be stamped with "im- 

 ported " to give them superior value in the 

 estimation of four-fifths of our people, when in 

 reality they are often no better than our home- 

 made productions. 



The importation of Italian bees was made just 

 at a time when an interest in the subject of bee- 

 keeping had been awakened by the publication 

 of two of the best works upon the subject that 

 had been issued in this country. They were 

 extravagantly lauded by the importers and breed- 

 ers, and eagerly sought after by beekeepers. Our 

 Yankee acquisitiveness, always quick to see 

 where a peuny can be turned, saw in this de- 

 mand a new department of beekeeping, and 

 queen breeders became numerous, flooding the 

 country far and wide with their circulars, enu- 

 merating at great length the superior qualities 

 of the new importations. 



Nearly all the first purchasers in turn became 

 queen breeders, and all united in blowing the 

 trumpet of their fame, many not having had 

 Italian bees long enough to become acquainted 

 with their peculiarities. The beautiful color Of 

 the Italians and marked difference from the 

 natives made them attractive, and the opportu- 

 nity and advantage it afforded in studying the 

 habits and instincts of this wonderful insect, 

 while changing colonies from black to striped, 

 have made them favorites with the amateur and 

 naturalist. Under suoh circumstances, it is not 

 at all astonishing that they should become quite 

 popular. 



They have now become widely disseminated 

 and fallen in the hands of beekeepers who do 



not make queen-raising a business, but keep 

 bees for the surplus honey, and in their sober 

 second thought they begin to ask : Is the Italian 

 bee superior to the native in giving larger amounts 

 of surplus honey ? 



In some of our bee conventions, which have 

 generally been inaugurated and run by those in- 

 terested in the sale of Italian bees, some few 

 had the temerity to assert that the Italian bee 

 was a humbug, and no better than the native, 

 while some of the correspondents of our paper 

 more modestly assert their doubts as to their 

 great superiority. 



It is not certain that many of the superior 

 claims of the Italians, enumerated at length in 

 circulars of queen breeders, may be greatly 

 whittled down or entirely cut off. That the 

 Italian will gather honey from red clover, or 

 any other honey producing plant, when the 

 native bee, cannot or will not in any paying 

 quantities, is a myth which is about exploded. 

 That in some seasons of great drouth of honey, 

 in some localities they have been known to se- 

 cure more honey than the natives, has been 

 pretty well established by the testimony of some 

 reliable witnesses, but without knowing from 

 what source the honey was procured, whether 

 from the flowers of plants or the hives of other 

 colonies. That they possess quite an amiable 

 disposition, which makes them in all eases more 

 easily handled than the natives, is no longer con- 

 tended for by some of the most experienced bee- 

 keepers, and generally doubted by most who 

 have tried them. 



That their queens, as they are now carefully 

 bred and selected, are more prolific, is generally 

 conceded, but with all the care given to their 

 breeding, we frequently hear of unprolific ones. 

 That they are also more disposed to swarm fre- 

 quently is likewise granted, but instead of this 

 being a recommendation it is a decided objection 

 with most honey raisers. It is claimed that they 

 stick more tenaciously to the combs, but as fre- 

 quent shaking oft' is necessary in the use of the 

 extractor, we may hear this urged as an objec- 

 tion to them. It is admitted by Mr. Langstroth 

 and others, that they will not store honey in 

 empty surplus boxes as readily as natives, but it 

 is claimed that they will store more in furnished 

 combs. 



We have but little or no positive evidence that 

 they will give more surplus honey in a given 

 number of seasons, all things being equal, than 

 the natives. In fact, we doubt whether an im- 

 partial test and comparison has ever been made. 

 We have all taken it for granted that they were 

 superior to the natives, and in introducing them 

 to our apiaries, the first thing is to get rid of the 

 inferior blacks as soon as possible. If a few 

 colonies of blacks remain in the apiary for a 

 year or two, they are generally neglected, while 

 the Italians have all attention. And should they 

 receive the same treatment and fail to give as 

 much honey as the Italians in one season, this 

 will not be conclusive evidence in favor of the 

 latter, for we know that there will be some 

 qualities in every apiary that will not do as 

 much as others, though everything is apparently 

 equal. Many assign superiority to the Italians 



