52 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



ed to Mr. Parsons that I had 11 colo- 

 nies of pure Italians at that date, but 

 at the present time, I don't believe 

 they were exactly pure, I think now 

 they must have been hybrids, at least 

 some of them. I reported also that I 

 had at that date, two colonies contain- 

 ing two of the queens be sent me, 

 that had no native bees in them. I 

 also reported some other facts that I 

 still think were about correct. 



But Mr. Langstroth reported as fol- 

 lows : "If we may judge from the 

 working of my colonies, the Italians 

 will fully sustain their European rep- 

 utation. They have gathered more 

 than twice as much honey as the 

 swarms of common bees. This honey 

 has been chiefly gathered within the 

 last few weeks, during which time the 

 swarms of common bees have in- 

 creased but very little in weight. 

 The season here has been eminently 

 unfavorable for the new swarms — one 

 of the worst I ever new — and the pros- 

 pect now is that I shall have to feed 

 all of them except the Italians." Mr. 

 Langstroth's report is a verbatim copy 

 of what was printed in Mr. Parsons' 

 circular, dated Jan. 1, 1861, and to 

 which he directs attention in the A. B. 

 J. advertisement to which Mr. Robin- 

 son refers. The date of Mr. L's re- 

 port, and the number of Italian colo- 

 nies he had are not given. But the 

 question directed to T. G. Newman 

 and others has now been met and I 

 trust will prove satisfactory. Mr. R. 

 must now see that he was in error in 

 the supposition that Mr. Langstroth 

 was testifying to what Mr. Parsons' 

 bees were doing in New York while he 

 was residing at home in Ohio. 

 6. Mr. Langstroth states in his work on 

 bees, page 3n5, 3d edition, that Wagner 

 and CoJvin were the first who landed living 

 Italian bees in America. Now, how can 

 that be when Mr. Mahan brought over a 

 few colonies of Italian bees at the same time 

 and by the same steamer ? 



My answer is because there was a 

 certain person on board that steamer 

 just smart enough to get on shore with 

 the Wagner and Colvin bees before 

 Mr. Mahan did with his. 



7. Mr. Parsons says in his official report, 

 which appears in the annual report of the 

 Patent office for 1859, that he bought ten 

 colonies of Italian bees for the U. S. and 

 ten for himself. 



Now Mr Parsons does not say one 

 word in said report about buying ten 

 hives of Italian bees for himself. 

 This being the case Mr. R. must be 

 writing "history" at random, or 

 from an unreliable memory. 



8. Mr. Riley, in his Essay read at Wash- 

 ington, in 1892, at the N. A. Convention, 

 did not mention the fact that it cost the 

 U. S. some $1800 to defray the expenses of 

 the Government — Parsons importation of 

 the Italian bees; but the records are in the 

 archives of the Department or should be 

 there. 



Perhaps the chief reason why Dr. 

 Riley made no such statement is be- 

 cause it is not true that it cost the U. 

 S. the sum of $1800, as stated, nor 

 even one-tenth of that sum; Nor is it 

 true that the records of the Depart- 

 ment show or ever did show what Mr. 

 R. alleges. 



9. Mr. Mahan lost heavily by reason of 

 owning a joint interest with Mr. Langstroth 

 in his patent hive. 



This statement seems to be "his- 

 tory" foreign to the Italian bee topic, 

 and for that reason I have left it for 

 my closing examination. The pur- 

 pose must be intended as a special re- 

 flection upon Mr. Langstroth. In 

 what way Mr. Mahan lost heavily 

 needs an explanation. That Mahan 

 and Langstroth had, many years ago, 

 certain business relations with each 

 other I do not deny, but that Mr. L. 

 did Mr, M. any intentional wrong, fi- 

 nancially or otherwise is contrary to 

 my understanding of the matter. 



On the other hand, possibly Mr. 

 Robinson may not be aware that Mr, 

 Langstroth met, many years ago, with 

 a serious financial loss by reason of a 

 certain business transaction with Mr. 

 Mahan, and that this perhaps is the 

 chief reason why Mr. L. has been in 

 the past, and is today, more or less 

 financially embarrassed. 



To conclude: By this time, if not 

 before, I presume Mr. Robinson has 



