1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



221 



too large and cumbersome and occupies more room 

 in the bee-house than necessary. The hive, there- 

 fore, must be left upon the summer stand, while 

 the frames must be so constructed that the portion 

 containing the brood nest can be easily removed 

 and placed safely in the bee-house. 



Fourthly. Shall we winter our bees on sugar 

 syrup ? If so, in order to save time and labor, we 

 must have a special feeder for each hive. It need 

 not necessarily be a "tea-kettle" or a patent feeder, 

 but simply a tin milk pan (see Novice's Gleanings 

 for February), set either over or under the brood 

 nest. 



Now, to obtain such a hive is at present impossi- 

 ble, though every patent hive man will tell you he 

 has it, while but very few have anything that ap- 

 proaches it. A close fitting frame hive accomplishes 

 the thing nearer than any other style. But in say- 

 ing this, we arouse the ire of our loose frame 

 friends. Now cannot a compromise be made be- 

 tween the two factions of our brotherhood, and a 

 plan adopted that will enable us to work both loose 

 and close fitting frames in the same hive? We 

 ■could then secure all of the advantages of both. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have no axes to grind in this 

 matter, but as a candid looker-on, give my views of 

 what I would like in a hive. But if I were to work 

 my apiary for box honey, give me the close-fitting 

 frame; for extracted, the loose frame. 



Scientific. 



Hartford, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1873. 



— ♦- 



[For the American Bee Journal ] 



Are We Improving Our Bees by Indiscriminate 

 Importations of Italian Bees? 



Me. Editor. — At the late meeting of our national 

 society, on the last day, a resolution was adopted, 

 tendering the thanks of the society to certain im- 

 porters of Italian bees, "for their efforts to make a 

 large importation of Italian bees." I do not speak of 

 it to find fault with the society, for I think those 

 who voted for the resolution were sincere ; although 

 I have heard it suggested that the resolution, com- 

 ing from one who was perhaps interested in the 

 venture, and who is notorious for what he calls 

 "axe-grinding," whenever he can get any one to 

 turn the crank, looked slightly like an advertising 

 dodge. While suspicious persons will, many of 

 them, view it in that light, 1 wish to draw attention 

 to the question at the head of this article. 



That the introduction of the Italian bee has been 

 a great benefit to this country, in more ways than 

 one, no person will deny. The greatest benefit, in 

 my opinion, has been that its novelty has drawn 

 attention to apiculture, and has enlisted many in 

 bee keeping, who otherwise would have paid no at- 

 tention to it. Another benefit has been that it 

 demonstrated that some bees were better than 

 others, and will result in the best being hunted up. 

 More than that, it has enabled us to investigate 

 many entomological questions, and will enable us 

 to determine many more. Many other benefits 

 might be mentioned, but as they have no relation 

 to my question, I will not take up your space with 

 them. 



What is an Italian bee? The shortest answer 

 would be, "A bee imported from Italy;" but that 



would be unsatisfactory, unless we know that there 

 is a variety or race of bees peculiar to the Italian 

 peiunsula, uniform in everything. Is it so? Vir- 

 gil, who wrote more than 2,000 years ago, devotes 

 one book of his Georgics (the 4th) to the bee, and 

 describes two kinds, one unsightly or "ugly," like 

 a traveler covered with dust, while the other "shines 

 and sparkles like burnished gold." The latter, he 

 says, is the best, "melior," more beautiful in form, 

 and in the color of its glittering scales. 



It is not necessary to go back to Virgil to show 

 that the bees of Italy are not uniform, in color or 

 temper, for all accounts, even from those breeding 

 and shipping queens to this country, agree with 

 Virgil. 



I know it is common to state that there is but 

 one race or variety of bees in Italy, and on account 

 of geographic barriers — the Mediterranean Sea and 

 impassable snow-capped mountains — no bee can 

 pass in or out, but this is not to the point. The 

 New World is said to have been without the honey 

 bee when discovered, but with the Atlantic and 

 Pacific Oceans and the Arctic regions as barriers, 

 we now have quite a number of varieties, yet we 

 cannot tell whence they came, with the exception of 

 the Italian, Egyptian, and some imported to the 

 Pacific coast from Australia. 



Some years ago, Mr. Adam Grimm went to Italy 

 in person, and made "a, large importation of bees." 

 He tells us that he found the bees of that, country 

 varied, and he gave the preference to a dark col- 

 ored bee, which he imported, and he will tell you 

 now that he prefers it to the light yellow bee that 

 takes the fancy of so many ; but he will tell you 

 further, that he cannot sell them, for they are not 

 "the fashion." I obtained some of them through 

 him, and can agree with him. 



Rev. H. A. King, who visited Italy in 1871, stated 

 at the meeting of the N. A. B. Society at Indianapo- 

 lis, " that he examined 200 colonies in the apiary of 

 Von Hruscka, and found two that he pronounced 

 impure. Hruscka admitted that they might be impure, 

 as he had bought them of other parties." Now, 

 Hruscka must have been aware that there were 

 "impure" bees in Italy, or he would not have ad- 

 mitted it. 



Mr. Charles Dadant, of Illinois, went in person 

 to make the importations, for which the society 

 tendered its thanks. In a letter written from 

 Milan, after speaking of the bees of Pallanza, Bel- 

 linzona, and Como, that did not please him on 

 account of color, he says: " Sartor i says there is 

 some black blood mixed with the Italian on the fron- 

 tiers of Italy." Read the following quotations 

 from Mr. D.'s letters, published in the American 

 Bee Journal, October, 1872: "I was offered 100 

 or 150 queens by Chevally, * * but I would 

 have had queens of all kinds, without guarantee of 

 age or color." 



"I saw the bees of Varese, they are no better 

 than those of Mona, of Bellinzona. The keeper of 

 the Royal Palace, who was born and raised in 

 Turin', says the bees of Piedmont are blacker and 

 crosser than those of Milan. Count Castralani, 

 who is from the vicinity of Naples, told me also, 

 that the bees of Milan ivere -more yellow than those of 

 the southern part of the peninsula. Besides, Sartori, 

 who was horn in the Tyrol, says that he does not 



