AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



209 



However, that considerable has been 

 done by the Department, and through 

 its agency for bee-keepers — much more, 

 probably, than most of you are aware 

 of — the published reports of the Depart- 

 ment show. These reports, hundreds of 

 thousands of which have been distributed 

 very generally over the land, have 

 surely had their influence in the promul- 

 gation of intelligent and humane meth- 

 ods in the culture of bees. Beginning 

 about the time of the first edition of 

 Langstroth's celebrated work, or nearly 

 a decade before any bee-periodical had 

 been printed in the English language, 

 the Department reports have from year 

 to year given some notice of prog- 

 ress in bee-culture, statistics of honey 

 and wax production, and on several oc- 

 casions excellent little treatises on bees 

 and bee-management. Notable among 

 these is the article on the nature and 

 habits of the honey-bee, in the report 

 for 1857. I cannot give the name of 

 the author, as the initials only of the 

 Chief Clerk of the Patent Office are at- 

 tached to it. In 1860 Mr. William 

 Buckisch, of Texas, gave, in an extend- 

 ed article, a review of bee-culture as 

 practiced by Dzierzon and his school. 

 The essay by my old friend, Mrs. Ellen 

 S. Tupper, of Iowa, published in the 

 report for 1865, and covering her theory 

 of bee-keeping, was widely read and fre- 

 quently quoted, creating much interest 

 in improved methods. 



The introduction of Italian bees into 

 this country is certainly one of the ad- 

 vances in American bee-culture which 

 ranks second only to the invention of 

 the frame hive, the honey extractor and 

 the comb foundation machine. But how 

 many even now know that the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture had anything to do 

 with the matter ? Leading text-books 

 on apiculture are silent on this head. 

 The fact is, however, that the first suc- 

 cessful importation of Italian bees from 

 their native land to America was made 

 by the Department, and it was almost 

 wholly from this importation that such 

 skillful apiarists as Langstroth, Cary 

 and Quinby bred and disseminated the 

 race during the early '60's. 



Individual effort had, for some years 

 previous, been directed to securing this 

 race of bees, and in the autumn of 1859 

 a few queens were landed here from 

 Germany by Mr. P. J. Mahan, of Phila- 

 delphia, on his account, and by Samuel 

 Wagner, of York, Pa., and Richard Col- 

 vin, of Baltimore, acting together. 

 Those imported by Messrs. Wagner and 

 Colvin were lost during the winter which 

 succeeded, and those which Mr. Mahan 



imported do not seem to have been mul- 

 tiplied as rapidly as the importation 

 made through the Department of Agri- 

 culture the following spring. 



Mr. S. B. Parsons, acting for the De- 

 partment, was in Italy at this time, 

 making purchases of cuttings and plants 

 for testing in this country, and an order 

 was transmitted to him by the Depart- 

 ment to procure some hives of Italian 

 bees. Ten were purchased by him in 

 1859, and forwarded to this country in 

 May, 1860. These were distributed 

 among several of the best bee-masters, 

 and they at once set about the rearing 

 and sale of the queens of the new race. 



Thus it was that the Department suc- 

 ceeded where private enterprise had 

 failed in this most important undertak- 

 ing. Those who wish confirmation of 

 this statement will find it in the Agricul- 

 tural Report for 1859, page 543, and in 

 that for 1863, page 530. The former 

 is a letter written by Mr. Parsons while 

 in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the latter 

 is an extended article on the Italian 

 honey-bee by Mr. Richard Colvin, a com- 

 petent authority, and who had been one 

 of the private parties who had tried dur- 

 ing the years 1858-60 to import this 

 particular strain from Europe. 



It were beyond the scope of this com- 

 munication to enlarge on the merits of 

 the Italian race of bees, particularly as 

 Mr. Benton has treated us to a com- 

 munication on the varieties of bees ; but 

 I may be pardoned for calling attention 

 to what I believe to be a truth which all 

 will admit who are familiar with the 

 progress of apiculture in the United 

 States during the past thirty years or 

 more, namely, that the benefits, direct 

 and indirect, which have accrued to 

 American apiarian interests through the 

 introduction of the bees of Italy, far ex- 

 ceed the few thousand dollars which, all 

 told, the Department from the time of 

 its organization to the present day has 

 expended in the development of this in- 

 dustry as one of our national sources of 

 wealth. As will appear from its report 

 for 1877, the Department was earnestly 

 solicited to appoint a Commission for the 

 purpose of gathering statistical informa- 

 tion as to the condition and growth of 

 bee-keeping in the United States; to 

 communicate with the largest and most 

 successful bee-masters, and secure their 

 methods of wintering, and otherwise 

 managing bees; to test modern and 

 improved apiarian appliances, and rec- 

 ommend such as are worthy; to point 

 out the most favorable bee-ranges in the 

 country ; to encourage the cultivation 

 of honey-producing plants ; and to ed- 



