THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



45 



onies with the darkest bees, or bees with 

 the most black blood, giving me the most 

 surplus honey. I wish it were otherwise ; 

 for I like those beautiful yellow bees; so 

 quiet on their combs, and so gentle that 

 they will not hurt you if you don't hurt 

 them; but when I found them idling away 

 their time, and the dark bees filling their 

 hives, it set me to thinking ver>' fast; and 

 I wondered if they had not degenerated 

 bv removing them to this country. But, 

 if they have degenerated in thirty years, 

 what of the blacks that were imported two 

 hundred years ago ? Guess that theory 

 won't work. 



One of the great drawbacks to these 

 yellow bees is their disposition to swarm 

 — much worse in some .seasons and in 

 some locations than in others. In one 

 of my yards they are very nmch worse 

 than in the others; and in '97 they swarm- 

 ed before they had a bit of honey in the 

 supers; and but little even in the brood 

 chamber. In some cases not even an 

 ounce of honey was left in the brood 

 chamber! But will not these earlv swarms 

 fill up heir hives and give lots of .surplus? 

 They will perhaps fill them up with hon- 

 ey and brood; and a start may be made in 

 surplus sections, when, out they pour 

 again, as though they meant to do their 

 full share in fulfilling the Divine injunc- 

 tion to "Multiply and replenish the 

 earth." — and .so the .season is fritter- 

 ed away, and the harvest is past and the 

 sunnner is ended and my boxes only halt 

 finished. 



Mrs. Tupper and others have said that 

 a colony would not swarm if a laying 

 queen of the present season were given 

 it l)efore preparations for swarming were 

 connnenced. But, alas! my Italians have 

 not the slightest regard for what Mrs. 

 Tupper said; or the age of their queens, 

 either. Swarm, swarm, j-zfvrrw, they will; 

 until I have become so disgusted that I 

 have thought I would use black queens 

 only, until every vestige of Italian blood 

 was wiped out. But over-swarming is 

 not their only fault; for in some yards, 

 e past summer, as in other years, where 



there was but little swarming, the dark 

 bees were ahead. Why was that ? It 

 seems to me that the solution of the prob- 

 lem is just here: The 1:)lack bees are not 

 near!}- so fastidious as to the honey they 

 gather, as are the Italians; and in such a 

 year as 1897, in this section, when even 

 clover hone}' is of "off-quality," thej- 

 have greatly the advantage, or manage to 

 get the advantage, before the end of the 

 season; and far surpass their more gen- 

 teel neiglibors; who will have the best or 

 none, or but verj- little. It is true, the 

 surplus honey gathered by the blacks 

 would not, in such instances, average 

 quite as white, perhaps, as that gathered 

 bv the other bees; but, as I used to con- 

 sole myself last summer, so I can say now, 

 honey a little dark is better than none; 

 which was just about the amount some 

 of my handsomest yellow bees gave me; 

 while the dark bees gave me a fine yield 

 of surplus. 



A few years ago, I received a letter 

 from a gentleman, living in a .section 

 wliere their suqilus honey was principally 

 buckwheat, a.sking why his Italian bees 

 did not give him as nmch surplus as his 

 black bees. He had been much disap- 

 ])ointed in the result of introducing 

 Italians into his apiary. The .stupid fas- 

 tidiousne.ss of the Italian race in not gath- 

 ering dark honey, when there was no 

 light honey to be had, was my only ex- 

 ])lanation. 



In drawing this discussion to a close, I 

 will say that I fully believe that in those 

 .sections of country where the majority of 

 flowers yield dark honey, or honey with 

 flavor a little "oflf," the dark bees will be 

 found nmch the more profitable. The 

 same is likely- to be true where, during 

 onlv a part of the season, such honey is 

 gathered; while, in those sections of 

 country where there is rarely much dark 

 honey gathered, and the clovers and bass- 

 wood abound, one can not do better than 

 to use Italian bees. 



MiDDLEiUKV, Vt., Dec. II, 1897. 



