1870.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



57 



bees in the shallow form of Langstroth hive. 

 Many who tested that plan, have written to me 

 that it Avorked well. I think the i)lan a good 

 one, and hope some one who has a copy of it 

 will send it to the editor of the Journal to have 

 it republished. I will guarantee that all who 

 try it will be pleased with the plan. 



H. Alley. 

 WenJutm, Mass., August, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Juurual.] 



Italian Queens. 



I wish to thank the llev. E. L Briggs for his 

 excellent article upon the penianency and pu- 

 rity of Italian bees, pid)lished in the August 

 number of the Bee Journal, altliongh I cannot 

 concur in all his conclusions, nor accept some 

 l^ortions of his theory ; but it is on a subject that 

 will soon be of absorbing interest to every bee- 

 keeper. 



To the central idea of his article, that our aim 

 should be perf,c/ion, undoubtedly all will cor- 

 dially assent, while few will adopt it practically, 

 for obvious reasons. Bee-keepers, as a class, 

 have neither time, taste, nor inclination to attain 

 the highest results in this direction ; though 

 they will seek to improve their stock, provided 

 it can be done cheaply and without much trou- 

 ble. It is well known that a cross — all things 

 being equal — invariably improves stock. It 

 therefore follows that the introduction of im- 

 pure Italians even, will have a beneficial effect 

 and thus help the matter, if for no other reason 

 than simply crossing and mixing the blood. 



Mr. Briggs Avill admit that comparatively 

 few persons will pay $8.00 or more for tested 

 queens to breed from or to Italianize their stocks 

 with. And until such queens of undoubted 

 purity can be afforded at a much lower pi'ice 

 than that, the great mass of bee-keepers will 

 continue to regard well marked Italian queens 

 at $2.50 each, as a great blessing, inasmuch as 

 they vastly improve the general status of the 

 bee, even if not quite reaching the point of per- 

 fection. 



Mr. Alley, to whom Mr. Briggs refers, has 

 furnished me with queens perfectly satisfactory, 

 being as finely marked as any I ever saw, and 

 their workers and daughters are "chips of the 

 old block." Certainly the introduction of such 

 blood will not cause deterioration in all or any 

 of those qualities that a progressive bee-keeper 

 delights in. It is pleasant to have bees gentle 

 and harmless ; but when that quality is obtained 

 at the expense of activity in breeding or work- 

 ing, it becomes an unprofitable luxury. 



The question that is so often asked — "Are 

 pure Italians superior to hybrids, as workers 

 and breeders?" must be satisfactorily settled by 

 breeders of pure Italians, before bee-keepers 

 generally will accept fully the conclusions of 

 Mr. Briggs. 



My own experience has satisfied me that 

 hybrids are far superior to the pure Italians, in 

 every quality save that of gentleness. Possibly 

 my queens may not have been absolutely pure, 

 yet they conform to the best marks as described 



by Quinby and others. Those of my stocks that 

 are unquestionably hybrid have given the best 

 satisfaction in every respect. Others assure me 

 of similar experience. Will some one explain 

 this fact? 



In view of it all, I can but regard a general 

 crossing of Italians and blacks, as of immense 

 advantage to bees and bee-keepers, and I hope 

 and trust that friend Alley Avdl continue to dis- 

 tribute, far and near, by scores and hundreds, 

 those large, prolific and beautiful queens at 

 $3.50 each. Geo. C. Silsby. 



Winterporf, Me., Aug. 4, 1870. 



[For the Arnericau Bee Journal.] 



Qufec-Breeding. 



]Mr. Editor :— Criticisms based on substan- 

 tial facts, courteously worded, made in a spirit 

 of kindness and a desire to benefit the world, 

 are opportune and of great value. But when 

 made merely for the purpose of "showing 

 off," or of filling up space in an article, thereby 

 damaging the reputation of any jierson without 

 just cause, based on no facts, and unsupported 

 by even a shadow of proof, they tend to mislead, 

 and are an injury to the author, the person criti- 

 cised, and the public generally. 



On page 38 of the August No. of the Journal 

 in an article written by Mr. E. L. Briggs, is a 

 direct attack on one of your correspondents, 

 who for years has been engaged in the queeii- 

 breeding business, and who, by devoting his 

 whole time thereto, is enabled to supply his cus- 

 tomers at very low prices. And the only cause 

 given for this attack is that he supplies the bee 

 fraternity at .$2.50 for a warranted queen, and 

 has four hundred orders at that price. 



Now if Mr. Alley can afford to rear queens 

 and sell them at $3.50, and his customers do not 

 find fault, whose business is it? And is it just 

 the thing for any one to assume that his queens 

 are not pure, without showing the proof thereol ? 

 I think not. 



As to Mr. Alley and his reputation as a man 

 and a dealer in queens, I will say, in order that 

 the many readers of your Journal who do not 

 know him, may get at the facts, that I have for 

 a long time been personally acquainted with 

 him, and have always found him just and hon- 

 orable in his dealings. I also know that he 

 takes great pains to obtain the best stock to 

 breed from, by purchasing im]>orted queens, and 

 continually procuring from reputable dealers, 

 such queens as are of known liurity, in order to 

 avoid too clo.se breeding. These facts, in con- 

 nection with the fact that he is in a locality 

 where all the bees, for miles around his apiary, 

 have been Italianized by him, show whether the 

 assumed idea in Mr. Briggs' article has a shadow 

 of foundation. Now, shall any one of the (lueen- 

 raising brotherhood assume that a man is a 

 .sharper who sells queens for $2.50, without 

 proving that the purchasers thereof have been 

 swindled ? For one, 1 answer no ! And if I can 

 buy pure queens of Mr. Alley for $2.50, I shall 

 not send to Mr. Briggs, and pay him from $8 to 

 $10, even for his four or more banded motliers. 



