153 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Jan., 



ing, while the Italians nearly always hold their 

 own. 



Dr. Bohrer said, the Italians had one fault. 

 They were inclined to swarm too much, late in 

 the season. 



Beth Hoagland of Pennsylvania, said, it was 

 not the object of the committee to hear expres- 

 sions of opinion from celebrated queen breeders 

 such as those who have spoken, but from those 

 of the society who ai*e in a position to give a 

 disinterested opinion, from having practically 

 tested them throughout the country. 



Dr. Bohrer said, he was not desirous of sell- 

 ing any more queens, as he could make it more 

 profitable to produce honey. 



Hon. M. L. Dunlap of Illinois. Said he was 

 not interested in the queen business, and was 

 of opinion, that the introduction of the Italian 

 bee was a move in the right direction. The 

 black bees were no doubt degenerated, by long 

 years of close in-and-in breeding, and the inter- 

 mingling of new blood with them had the 

 effect of improving them. On the other hand, 

 the Italians had been misrepresented, and had 

 too many good qualities attributed to them. 

 They had been overrated in many respects. 

 The queen raiser was to blame for this. He 

 did not find the Italian as gentle as the black 

 bees, the opinion of others to the contrary, not- 

 withstanding. They were as easily destroyed 

 by the moth. He was not a commercial bee-i&t, 

 as he only kept bees for his own use and grati- 

 fication. He had none to sell. He was inter- 

 ested, however, in obtaining the best, and if 

 there was such a thing, he would like to get 

 them pure. He had tried to find pure Italians, 

 and would have had them long ago, but had not 

 been able to find who had them. He would 

 like this society to decide by resolution, what 

 were pure Italian bees, and also where they 

 could be had. 



H. A. King of New York. Said if he wished 

 to help grind an axe, he would say that his 

 friend Winder had pure Italians, as pure as he 

 had seen in Italy. He (King) examined 200 

 colonies in the apiary of Von Hrnscka, and 

 found two there which he pronounced impure. 

 Hruscka admitted that they might be impure, 

 as he had bought them from other parties. 



Dr. Bohrer discussed the question of purity, 

 and said, the Italian bee was in the condition 

 of recently established breeds of hogs, cattle, 

 and other improved stock that did not become 

 constant, until after a long series of "breeding 

 out," or careful breeding, and concluded by 

 saying that the type of the Italian race was not 

 so fixed as to produce a regular, uniform insect. 



Dr. Lucas said, his experience was with 

 Italian bees from four different breeders, and 

 that full blooded and half bred Italians yielded 

 well, but that one-fourth and lower grades were 

 no better than black bees. Thought the honey 

 of the Italians heavier, more dense, and had a 

 superior flavor. They may not have a longer 

 proboscis, but were superior as honey-gatherers 

 and more quiet. 



M. Disher, Lewisburg, Ohio. Bought his first 

 Italian bees of Langstroth, who told him that 

 they would work on red clover. He made observa- 



tions to find out if it was so. The first count he 

 made, he found four black bees on the red 

 clover to eighteen Italians. The second time 

 he found six black bees to twenty-eight Italians. 

 The Italians worked two hours in the morning 

 on red clover, before the black bees commenced 

 on white clover. When the Italians swarm 

 naturally, he found them more cross than the 

 black bees, but in making artificial swarms they 

 are more easily managed. The Italians he found 

 almost entirely free from the moth. 



//. A. King. Thought that natural Italian 

 swarms were more cross than the black bees. 



Mrs. E. 8. Tapper confirmed the statement, 

 and gave as a reason, that the black bees always 

 made preparation for swarming, by filling them- 

 selves with honey, while the Italians were not 

 so provident, and consequently were crosser. 



Mr. Southworth of Illinois. Could not see 

 but what the Italians would rob as quick or a 

 little quicker than the black bees. When they 

 smell honey, they "go for it." They "go for" 

 the moth too. 



Mr. W. R. King of Kentucky. Agreed with 

 Mr. Southworth as to the capacity of the Italians 

 to find sweets a long way off. In transferring 

 bees 2| miles from his apiary, his Italians ap- 

 peared as robbers in great numbers. The Italians 

 were more inclined to store honey in the lower 

 chamber, and would not work in boxes as readily 

 as the black bees. 



J. S. Hill, Mount Healthy, Ohio. The 

 moth worm will get into hives of all kinds of 

 bees, but the Italians will cut them out and 

 repair the holes, while the black bees let them 

 alone, and finally succumb to them. He would 

 on that account, prefer them, if for no other 

 reason. 



Mr. Wilkinson of la. Asked if there was 

 any difference between a cross of the Italian 

 drone and a black queen, and the cross of a 

 black drone on an Italian queen. 



Mr. Zimmerman of Ohio. Said the cross 

 of the Italian drone and black queen was prefer- 

 able to the other cross, and that the Italian was 

 preferable in every respect to the black bee. 



Dr. Bohrer. Said when an Italian swarm of 

 bees determined to fight, they can make the 

 black bees ashained of themselves. In hiving 

 them, he had got himself completely "coated" 

 with them, so that it took him two hours to get 

 his "coat" off. 



N. C. Mitchell. Had a colony of pure peace- 

 able Italians that swarmed, and when he at- 

 tempted to hive them, became extremely bellig- 

 erent. Several persons went up into the tree to 

 get them down, but had to retreat precipitately. 

 He went up himself, and got severely attacked. 



A member. How did they compare with the 

 Egyptians ? 



Mr. Mitchell. The Egyptians can shoot a dead 

 shot at any distance, from 10 feet to a mile. 

 The Italians cannot do that. 



Mr. Pope of Illinois Said he had opened and 

 handled the Egyptians that whipped Mr. 

 Mitchell so badly, and found them perfectly 

 docile. 



N. A. King suggested, that as what was being 

 said here about the fighting qualities of the 



