1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



13 



Lately dorsata was accused of being 

 a great stinger, but among a certain 

 class our own pet has a similar name. 



A great amount of data has been 

 collected about the bees of India, and 

 the government of India has publish- 

 ed a book about the bees of India that 

 are kept in hives. If we can't do any 

 better we can get the bees the natives 

 have and try them. 



The bees of Bhotan are kept in 

 hives and are different from ours. It 

 seems to me that if these natives with 

 their rude hives can keep these bees 

 we ought to do a leetle better. 



The reports furnished to the gov- 

 ernment of India show that the bees 

 of that country suffer from moths and 

 men chiefly. They do not cultivate 

 our bees — only Europeans do this. 

 Our bees do not mix with theirs. 



Bermuda. 



[Our correspondent, Mr. Morrison, 

 in his first paragraph, must surely 

 have misunderstood me in what I said 

 concerning Apis dorsata on pages 390 

 and 396, On neither page did I say 

 anything about their " changing the 

 flora" of America. The nearest ap- 

 proach to it was that they would be 

 " out of harmony with the general 

 flora of America," and this was but 

 endorsing the opinion of that scientist 

 and an authority, Mr. Frank E. Ches- 

 hire, whom I had just been quoting. 



We have permitted the use of the 

 term "hybrids" when referring to 

 crosses between blacks and Italians, 

 simply because it had become gener- 

 ally accepted. And in the same way 

 we have permitted the term "fertile 

 workers" when we meant "laying 

 workers," just the same as everybody 

 speaks about the sun rising, when, in 

 fact, it does not rise at all ; or when 

 we say the tea kettle boils, when it is 

 only the water in it to which we refer; 

 or when we say the eaves drop, when 

 it is only the water running from 



them. Even if we were to change the 

 term " hybrid " to "cross," bee keep- 

 ers all over the country would be con- 

 tinually using the term they were long 

 accustomed to. As to the term "races 

 of bees," it is not any worse than that 

 commonly accepted by the whole 

 human family when it refers to "races 

 of men." If we must stop using the 

 term "races of bees," then our geog- 

 raphies and our general literature 

 must correct themselves in the use of 

 the term African race, Malay race, 

 etc. The Standard dictionary, the 

 latest and best, gives as one of its defi- 

 nitions of race, " a stock or strain as of 

 domestic animals or plants." "Race" 

 as we have used it in reference to bees 

 is correct according to these. 



There is a tendency in language to 

 give secondary meanings to words, and 

 these secondary meanings often and 

 even generally intrench themselves in 

 the language of the masses so firmly 

 that strict accuracy would really 

 amount to an inaccuracy. 



But in reference to Apis dorsata, I 

 am willing to take back anything I 

 said referring to the undesirability of 

 bringing them to this country; and in 

 view of what our correspondent has 

 said in favor of points 1 to 5, it may 

 be worth our while to get them here. 



In our next issue Mr. Morrison will 

 tell of the plan he has for going 

 through the Eastern countries, and 

 how he proposes to carry it out, for, 

 indeed, 1 believe he is just the man to 

 introduce new races or species into 

 the civilized world; and he will do it, 

 too, providing the bee keepers stand 

 back of him, even if he does not se- 

 cure an appropriation from our own 

 national government. He has had a 

 wide experience as a traveler, and is 

 well acquainted with all the intrica- 

 cies of travel among semi-barbaric 

 people. — Ed.] 



Clubbing List. 



We will send the American Beb-Keepkr with 



the— PUB. PRCK. BOTH. 



American Bee Journal, (81 00) 81 35 



American Apiculturist, ( 75; 1 15 



Bee-Keeper's Review, (1 00) 1 35 



Canadian Bee Journal, (1 00) 1 25 



Qleaninps in Bee Culture, (1 00) 1 35 



