• AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



145 



progeny in direct comparison with other 

 races, and also to secure certain known 

 crosses for experimental purposes. 



Thus eleven years were passed in 

 foreign lands during which I recall that 

 once for a period of four years in succes- 

 sion I heard no word of my mother 

 tongue spoken outside of my own 

 family. 



It is but just that I should mention 

 that the constant sharer in this long 

 exile and in these undertakings, their 

 pleasures and hardships (generally too 

 many of the latter), has been my de- 

 voted wife. She often took charge of 

 an apiary and receivad and cared for the 

 valuable queens from distant countries, 

 introducing them and preparing and 

 shipping them on long and difficult 

 journeys. It was her skill in this direc- 

 tion which landed in fine condition the 

 first queen-bee that ever made success- 

 fully, by mail, this long journey from 

 Europe. 



And since misapprehensions regarding 

 the possible returns from such work 

 have arisen, and have often been al- 

 luded to in print, it is quite proper to 

 mention here that it is safe to say that 

 one-half the effort and expenditures put 

 Into queen-rearing at home would have 

 yielded a far better income, in fact ; 

 though I come back with more than a 

 decade added to my years, and, I trust, 

 correspondingly richer In experience, it 

 is poorer in pocket and in health than 

 when I sailed from my native land, and 

 this even though the bee-keepers in 

 many European countries extended to 

 the undertaking a patronage hardly an- 

 ticipated in the beginning. But as the 

 work was not undertaken on my part 

 with the expectation of money-making, I 

 .could only be disappointed in this direc- 

 tion, in so far as the returns were not 

 equal to the expenses. 



Fbank Benton. 



[Here is as far as Mr. Benton had his 

 essay in manuscript. The description 

 he gave extempore. I supposed it was 

 all written, hence I took no notes, but 

 Mr. E. R. Root, of Oleanings, did, and 

 he has kindly sent me proof of what he 

 took down, having first subniitted said 

 proofs to Mr. Benton. Here follows the 

 correct version as approved by Mr. 

 Benton.— W. Z. H.] 



Although long, it was one of the most 

 entertaining talks that we believe we 

 ever listened to at any convention. Mr. 

 Benton began his address by giving a 

 description of the general characteris- 

 tics of black bees ; but as these bees are 



so well known, we will not reproduce 

 his remarks here. 



THE BEES OF ITALY. 



Next he took up the Italians. These 

 were introduced into the United States 

 in 1860 by Mr. S. P. Parsons, acting 

 for the Department of Agriculture, as 

 the Government records showed. It was 

 generally stated in the text-books that 

 Italian bees 'were first introduced into 

 the United States by Wagner and Colvin 

 acting together, and Mahan independ- 

 ently. They were actually the first to 

 land Italians on our shores, but not 

 queens bred in Italy, nor was it from 

 their importations that the country was 

 stocked to any great extent with Italian 

 bees. Their first consignments, which 

 arrived alive, came from Germany in the 

 fall of 1859, Mr. Mahan, to whom too 

 little credit has been given in this con- 

 nection, having charge of them. The 

 Wagner and Colvin queens were all lost 

 during the winter, which was near at 

 hand when they arrived. Nor had the 

 Mahan importation been multiplied be- 

 fore the arrival in May, 1860, of the 

 consignment which Mr. Parsons had, in 

 1859, been commissioned by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture to 

 purchase in Italy. And it was chiefly 

 from this importation that Langstroth, 

 Gary, Quinby, and other skillful breed- 

 ers multiplied the race in this country. 



Then turning to the general character- 

 istics and markings of the Italians, Mr. 

 Benton gave a very fair description, 

 which I also omit. Italians were, he 

 said, to be found in their greatest purity 

 in the region having Bergamo and 

 Brescia on the north, Montua and 

 Modena on the east, the Ligurian Appe- 

 nines on the south, and Pavia and Milan 

 on the west. He also found the bees in 

 Genoa well-marked, likewise those in 

 Leghorn, Florence, and other parts of 

 Tuscany, and in Rome. Perhaps it may 

 be interesting to note right here, that 

 the Italia,ns which we have been import- 

 ing to this country for many years have 

 been coming from the vicinity of Bologna, 

 which is just to the southeast of the re- 

 gion first mentioned by Mr. Benton. 



OARNIOLAN BEES. 



Of these Mr. Benton had the most to 

 say. They were dark in color, some- 

 what of a steel gray, but quite different 

 from the black bees. As to size, they 

 were a little larger than the Italians ; 

 were excellent honey-gatherers, sealed 

 their honey white, good wax-producers, 

 and collect little or no propolis. They 



