is not peculiar to Italy ; they are found in 

 the Island of Cyprus, Palestine, Syria, and 

 doubtless in other parts of the earth ; hence 

 the name "Italian" is not synonymous 

 with the yellow race of bees. If further 

 proof was necessary to establish this propo- 

 sition, it is found in the fact that the breed- 

 ers and dealers in queens have bought and 

 sold "golden" Italians, "dark" Italians, 

 "leather-colored" Italians, and all the 

 shades of the rainbow under the spacious 

 name "Italian." I am of the opinion that 

 not more than 25 per cent, of all the queens 

 imported from Italy fairly represent the 

 pure yellow race of bees. I have seen at 

 least one imported queen from Italy, that 

 produced the most common Hybrids. 1 now 

 have queens in my apiary from six imported 

 queens, and the variations are as palpable 

 as that seen in "graded" stock. 



Dr. Willich, in his "Domestic Encyclo- 

 paedia or Dictionary of facts," re-published 

 in this country nearly 80 years ago, in his 

 chapter on the honey bee speaks of Milan, 

 Italy, and other places, and says "of the 

 several kinds of working bees" that "those 

 which are small, oblong, smooth, bright or 

 shining, and of a gentle disposition" were 

 preferred by the, ancients ; " that the super- 

 ior utility of this species has been estab- 

 lished by experience." That this author 

 in the words, "bright or shining and of a 

 gentle disposition " intends to refer to the 

 yellow race of bees, so highly prized at the 

 present day, I have no doubt. And when 

 he speaks of the " several kinds of working 

 bees " he proves all that I have said, viz : 

 That the imported stock from Italy as a 

 general thing do not fairly represent the 

 "bright" or yellow race of bees, because of 

 their contact in the past with other races 

 of bees. It matters not, though the bright 

 or yellow race of bees in Italy have sur- 

 vived and absorbed (because of their "su- 

 perior utility") all other races of bees in 

 that country; they must necessarilly have 

 retained some of their blood, peculiar 

 traits, tfec, which is continually cropping 

 out in the process of breeding. 



Hence we have bees from the same im- 

 ported queens which fairly represent the 

 pure yellow race in color and disposition ; 

 and bees called "dark" Italians, and 

 "leather-colored" Italians, full of vindietive- 

 ness, always ready for a light. These fairly 

 represent the dark, or black race of bee's 

 both in color and disposition. There is a 

 curious fact connected with the amalgama- 

 tion of blood, well understood by stock 

 breeders, and that is, there is always a 

 tendency to run downwards ; or, in other 

 words, the blood of the inferior parent 

 always prevails in the long run, because 

 their progeny is invigorated by the superior 

 blood of the superior parent, while nothing 

 is given in return. 



We have a striking example of this ac- 

 cepted proposition in the offspring of the 

 queens imported from Italy. So prone have 

 they been to breed after the taint of blood 

 in their composition, that breeders and 

 dealers have been compelled to do all in 

 their power to popularize the so-called 

 "dark Italians" or give up the business of 

 queen-rearing at present prices. No one of 

 them, however, has claimed that the so- 



called "leather-colored " Italians are a dis- 

 tinct race, separate and apart from the yel- 

 low and black varieties, which are acknowl- 

 edged by all to be distinct and fixed races of 

 bees. The so-called "dark" Italians, there- 

 fore, is either a distbctraceortype of bees, 

 or they are hybrids, there is no escape from 

 this conclusion. G. W. Demabee. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



Mr. Boardman moved, as a test of the 

 sentiment of the Convention, 



Resolved, That the importation of 

 Italian queens is no longer advisable as 

 an improvement of our present race of 

 bees. 



A. I. Root, Ohio, has labored under 

 the impression that there were no black 

 bees in Italy. He is now satisfied they 

 do exist there, since Mr. Jones says he 

 has seen them. Mr. Root thinks, how- 

 ever, the manner of applying tests, and 

 the points of excellence bred for, has 

 had much to do in improving the race, 

 and in deciding their purity. 



W. Williamson, Kentucky, hoped the 

 resolution would not prevail. Since 

 1861 we have been improving. 



Capt. W. F. Williams, Ohio, moved to 

 lay the resolution on the table. Motion 

 prevailed. 



D. A. Jones, Ontario, stated he had 

 been unable to perfect his paper on the 

 " peculiarities and advantages of Cyp- 

 rian bees,-' however, he would tell them 

 something of what he had seen and en- 

 countered in his European trip. He 

 stated that the people of Cyprus were 

 a superstitious people and he had ex- 

 perienced much trouble in his dealings 

 with them, owing to their prejudices 

 against foreigners. From Cyprus he 

 had gone to Jerusalem, and had ob- 

 tained many queens and bees in the 

 holy land., but had experienced much 

 difficulty in getting them over the 

 mountains and to the sea-coast, as the 

 bees hi that far-off land were mostly 

 kept in hives made of unbaked clay, 

 and cylindrical in shape. After a 

 a swarm of bees was put in one of them, 

 the end was closed with an earthen 

 plate or disc which fitted in, and tiie 

 cracks were then closed with mud, 

 which made them quite tight. These, 

 were then packed on the tops of each ' 

 other, in pyramidal form, with some- 

 times several hundred in a single pile, 

 and the entrances all opening one way. 

 In this manner the top layers kept the 

 lower ones cool, and although the heat 

 was often as high as 112° to 115°, he had 

 never heard of a case of melting down 

 of the combs. When honey is wanted, 

 the disc or plate is removed from the 

 end, some smoke blown in to drive the 

 bees forward, then with a long knife the 

 combs are cut out, the plate rilled in 

 again, and the bees left to repair the 



