68 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



W. F. CLARKE, Editor. 



CHICAGO, MARCH, 1874. 



Italian Bees. 



Joseph Barlow of Blackheatb, Out., asks: — 

 "What is your opmiou of the Italian bees? 

 Are they more profitable than the common or 

 black bees ? Some say they are and some say 

 they are not. I have the common bees, but 

 if the Italians are better, I should like to get 

 them." 



The unanimous opinion of all bee-keepers 

 competent to judge, is that the Italians are 

 vastly superior, in several important respects, 

 to the common or black bees. 



t. They are better honey-gatherers. This 

 is the main excellence to secure in bees. We 

 keep them for the stores they will collect, and 

 our profits come from the excess of what 

 they treasure up after supplying their own 

 wants. What percentage more of honey they 

 will gather, over and above the average of 

 what the black bees will do, has never been 

 ascertained, but it has been sufficiently de- 

 monstrated, that they are more active and 

 energetic workers, that they will go out on 

 foraging expeditions during weather which 

 confines black bees to the hive, and that they 

 will gather honey from sources not accessible 

 to the black bee. 



2. They are more quiet and peaceable. 

 This is a very important point, inasmuch as 

 it is essential to the best success in bee-keeping, 

 that the bees should be freely handled. Art- 

 ificial swarming, change of queens, extract- 

 ing honey, putting on and taking ofl:" boxes, 

 and a variety of other occupations, necessitate 

 access to the interior of the hive, and render 

 it desirable to have bees to deal with, that do 

 not easily become irritated and infuriated. 

 It is frankly admitted that the Italians, when 

 once made angry, are worse to contend with 

 than the common bees, but there is no need 

 to enrage them, and they are not easily pro- 

 voked. When a hive is opened, the common 

 bees incline to rush out ])ell-mcll, while the 



Italians cling to the comb, and remain quiet. 

 With care, an Italian stock can be handled as 

 well without smoke, as common bees with it. 

 The utmost gentleness is requisite at all timc« 

 in doing anything among ])ees, and if this is 

 practised, it is remarkable how amiable the 

 Italians will behave. Occasionally things will 

 happen calculated to try the temper of most 

 peaceably inclined bees, just as the gentlest of 

 human beings will sometimes be exposed to 

 provocation. Jkit, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, the Italians will be found much more 

 pacific than the common bees. 



'S. They are less liable to be infested with 

 the moth. For some reason or other, the 

 black bees more readily succumb to this in- 

 sect pest, than the Italians. Possibly it is be- 

 cause of the untiring energy and resolute de- 

 termination of the Italians. The moth is a 

 stealthy, insidious enemy, burrowing in secret, 

 and worming itself into possession of the 

 sheets of comb, but an Italian colony of aver- 

 age strength, will hunt them out and prevent 

 their making headway. Many bee-keepers 

 who, when they kept the common bees, were 

 greatly pestered with the moth, testify that 

 on substituting the Italians, this annoyance 

 came to an end. 



4. They are more handsome. It would 

 be foolish to sacrifice more substantial quali- 

 ties for mere beauty, but, other things being- 

 equal, it is natural and proper to prefer that 

 which is beautiful to that which is plain and 

 homely. The Italian bee is a more genteeland 

 shapely insect than the common bee, while its 

 golden-banded jacket looks very attractive, 

 whether glittering in tlie sun, or covering the 

 sheets of comb. The queens of this breed are 

 often very beautiful. Just as our best breeds 

 of horses, cattle, sheep, swine and poultry are 

 better looking than the common varieties, and 

 please the eye more, while their nobler qualities 

 commend themselves to the judgment, so it i.s^ 

 with the Italian as compared with the com- 

 mon bee. 



For these reasons, we certainly advise our 

 correspondent to get the Italians. As a change- 

 of breeding stock only, they are worth the 

 trifling outlay necessary to obtain them. 

 There has naturally been very close breeding 

 "in-and-in," as it is termed, among bees, and 

 analogy suggests that this cannot fail to be 



