AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADYANCE. 



Vol. VL 



31 A. Y, IST^l. 



No. 11. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Italian Bee. 



When the American Bee Journal make,s its 

 monthly visit to me I rejoice, for I always read 

 it with as much interest as our German apistical 

 periodicals. It is, in fact, so excellent a paper, 

 that the American bee-keepers may well be 

 heartily congratulated on being furnished with 

 it, carefully edited as it is, and su.stained by a 

 large number of experienced and intelligent con- 

 tributors. Among these latter, the names of 

 a Gallup, a Novice, a Grimm, an Alley and a 

 Nesbit, with many others, have been made quite 

 as familiar to me, by their interesting communi- 

 cations, as those of our German writers on 

 similar topics. Though I have not the pleasure 

 of knowing them personally, it would be ex- 

 ceedingly gratifying to me, were I permitted 

 to visit America, to avail myself of the oppor- 

 tunity to surprise some of these coryphisi of 

 American bee-keepers some fine day in their 

 apiaries. Nor would it be less gratifying to me, 

 could I occasionally receive a visit from some of 

 them, here in Brunswick. But since neither the 

 one nor the other of these is likely to occur, I 

 will, for the present, employ another mode of 

 communicating with my transathuitic friends- 

 selecting as the subject of my remarks a theme, 

 the discussion of which appears to be, at this 

 time, a prominent topic among American apia- 

 rians—the Italian Bee. I shall submit my 

 views of it freely, candidly ; and unreservedly, 

 anticipating a possible rejoinder in the same 

 spirit. 



Among the several varieties of the honey bee 

 yet known to me, I regard the Italian as the 

 best. I value these bees highly, because of their 

 industry, their productiveness, their marked 

 gentleness, and their gallantry in defence of their 

 stores, as well as because of their color. I see 

 from the Bee Journal, that the larger number of 

 American bee-keepers coincide with me in these 

 views ; but much less unanimity of opinion is 

 likely to be found as regards the answer which 

 the experience of years constrains me to give to 

 the inquiry— "What is the chief characteristic 

 mark of the genuine Italians ?" or, " when may 

 we pronounce Italians pw re .S"' 



I should think that the reply to this inquiry 



must, without doubt, be this : — " Italian bees are 

 pure, when they bear distinctly and fixedly the 

 marks which we find distinguishing tliose bees 

 in the sections of Italy, and Italian'Switzerland, 

 in which they have been found existing for cen- 

 turies past, unaided by special arts of cultivation, 

 and as they exist there at the present day. To 

 this class of districts belong upper Italy, and Bel- 

 linzona, in the Canton of Tessiu, and Roveredo, 

 in the Canton of Grisons, in Switzerland. Now, 

 what are the marks which we find distinguishing- 

 the Italian bees there '? They invariably show 

 three yellow bands, sometimes more, sometimes 

 less distinctly impressed. The color of these bands 

 (of which two are broad and one is narrow,) 

 varies somewhat, according to locality. In Upper 

 Italy, the color of the bands is somewhat light, 

 while in Tessin and the Grisons it approaches 

 more that of the chestnut. The drones are 

 yellow on the under side of tlie body, and have 

 two narrow dark yellow— not to say clay-colored 

 —bands on the upper. The queens differ some- 

 what as regards coloring. Some are yellow to 

 the extreme tip of the "abdomen ; while others 

 have bands less yellow or brownish, and from 

 the third abdominal segment onward, their color 

 passes gradually into a darker shade. Many of 

 these queens produce princesses all uniformly 

 alike, of yellow or brownish color, whereas the 

 daughters of others, are more or less blacki.sh or 

 dark, not resembling their mother. But all the 

 queens derived from the districts named, without 

 exception, produce workers having yellow or 

 brownish (orange-colored) bands. Siicli is the 

 archetype of the Italian bee. All deviations 

 therefrom are no longer pure, whether passino- 

 in one direction or another. 



Formerly, it was customary to maintain in 

 Germany, that there was in this bee, even as 

 obtained from Italy and Italian Switzerland, a 

 slight da.sh of black blood. But I cannot con- 

 cede that this is so ; for if the introduction of 

 black blood in the districts named were of a 

 character to make itself perceptible, as has been 

 alleged, then, in consequence of its perpetual 

 influx, and in view of the fact that black bees 

 are largely in the majority on earth, the yellov.^ 

 color would long since have been obliterated, 

 as daily experience shows, when Italians are 

 bred among black bees. On the other hand, 

 with thorough seclusion from intermixture with 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S70, by Samuel Wagner, in the oiaeeof the Lib.-.rian or Cuu 



Washington. ^ 



