1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



375 



ages of .'iOO and loo lbs. per colony he qualilios it 

 with "even If this is true" (see page 137). 

 Messrs. Wilkiiis and Corey are both old-timers; 

 and if they have kept e.xact records it will be 

 of interest if they will have them publish(>d. 



The season of 18i»3 was an e.xceptionally good 

 one. If all the California readers of Glean- 

 IKGS will send to Mr. Root a correct statement 

 of their averages for last year we can at any 

 rate have some detinite idea of what a good 

 season is. 



My record is, of hives in spring, 1S7; honey 

 extracted, ;.'S.431 lbs. Average per colony. 1.5:3 

 lbs., the same as that which Rambler states is 

 the average one year with another. Why, if 

 we could get 150 lbs. per colony each year we 

 should be on the high road to wealth ; but now 

 as the fact is, most of us are so impoverished 

 that we live in shanties which the tax-collector 

 scorns to place a valuation upon. 



It is my belief, that, taking the bee-keepers 

 as tiiey come, from the mountains and from the 

 valleys, from the fog districts and from the 

 rainless districts, the lazy bee-keepers and the 

 energetic bee-keepers, that the average of the 

 whole, one year with another, will not be found 

 to exceed 35 lbs. 



But few bee-keepers have kept exact records 

 of their yields; and, if called upon for an oflf- 

 hand estimate of their averages, even if per- 

 fectly truthful men, they are apt to remember 

 the good years, forget the bad ones, and jump 

 at conclusions; and if one goes hunting for big 

 yields he can get them as big as he wants, for 

 the sage-brush is as full of prevaricators as it is 

 of ticks. 



Newhall, Cal., Mar. 37. 



[Now, Rambler, we will hear from you. Let's 

 have the facts and figures for a series of years 

 by all means from a large number of California 

 bee-keepers, and we will save them up till we 

 get enough to make a symposium. Regarding 

 our estimate, we have lo say that it was made 

 after looking over a number of average reports 

 from that State of gold and honey.— Ed.] 



SPECIES AND RACES OF BEES. 



By Rev. L.J. Trmpli)!. 



The question of the unity or the multiplicity 

 of the species of the common honey-bee is one 

 of both scientific and practical interest. Judg- 

 ing from the current literature on the subject, 

 there seems to be considerable confusion in the 

 minds of many writers on the subject; and es- 

 pecially is this true in regard to the Italian (or 

 Ligurian) bee. By vSome this is spoken of as a 

 race, by others as a species, and, at times, I 

 believe, both by the same writer. No dogma- 

 tism can settle the question, (inly a careful 

 tudy of the relations existing among the vari- 

 3US groups of organic beings will lead us to an 

 intelligent conclusion. Even the r^ost careless 



observer has noticed that the various organic 

 objects, both vegetable and aiiiiiial. with which 

 he is surrounded, are arranged in groups, the 

 members of which resemble each othf^r much 

 more closely than they do the members of other 

 groups. It is on these resemblancf^s and ditl'er- 

 ences that the general classification of organic 

 beings is based. At the basis (or foundation) 

 of this classification we find the two great 

 kingdoms, animal and vegetable!, embracing all 

 organic beings, whether great or small, simple 

 or complex. These kingdoms are divided into 

 sub-kingdoms; these into divisions, and these 

 into classes, and these into orders, families, 

 genera, and species. These groups gradually 

 narrow down the objects embraced in them till, 

 in the smaller groups, there comes to exist an 

 actual likeness in most essential characteris- 

 tics. But all these groups, except species, are 

 artificial divisions, arranged simply for the 

 convenience of comparison and study. It is 

 not pretended that there is any relationship or 

 affinity among the different members of these 

 great groups— only a very general or remote 

 resemblance in some features or characteristics 

 by virtue of which they may be loosely thrown 

 together into a group. But with species the 

 case is different. Here we have both a resem- 

 blance and a relationship. Cuvier, the father 

 of comparative anatomy, defines species as 

 follows: "A species includes the individuals 

 which descended from one another, or from 

 common parents." Linnaeus considered species 

 as including " all those individuals propagated 

 from one stock, and having in common certain 

 distinguishing characteristics which will never 

 vary, and which have remained the same since 

 the creation of such species." Quatrefages, 

 author of "The Human Species," gives the 

 following formula: " Species is a collection of 

 individuals more or less resembling each other, 

 which may be regarded as having descended 

 from a single primitive pair by an uninterrupt- 

 ed and natural succession of families." From 

 these definitions of the term by the masters of 

 classification, it is seen that species compre- 

 hends the compound idea of both filiation and 

 resemblance. But specific identity is not pred- 

 icated on evei'y resemblance, because there 

 may be general resemblances between members 

 ofditferent genera, or even different orders or 

 families. Nor do we exclude from specific re- 

 lationship for every difference, for we find a 

 con>tant tendency in all organic beings to vary. 

 No two objects, however close their alTfinity, 

 are exactly alike in every particular. When 

 the divergence from the specific type is marked, 

 a variety is foimed. Inasmuch as every indi- 

 vidual may vary from every other individual 

 of the species, the number of varieties that 

 may be formed is practically unlimited. Any 

 one who has studied the lists of varieties of 

 cultivated roses and chrysanthemums among 

 florists, and of fruits, both standard and small 



