1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



339 



impurity If their cominR from Italy will make them so." Now 

 this is just the point. Is there auy pure stock imported from 

 Italy ? I very much doubt if any comes from there that will 

 duplicate themselves in queens, workers, and drones uni- 

 formly markt. They are like ourselves, only emigrants, or 

 the offspring of emigrants. It is easy accounting for their 

 appearance In LIguria, that province lying on the bosom of 

 the Mediterranean. They could have been easily imported 

 or by migration found their way to the shores of Liguria. 

 Ample proof can be given of a swarm lodging in the bow of a 

 of a vessel trading on Lake Erie many miles from the Cana- 

 dian shore, and taken to the American side. The captain is 

 now on one of our ferry-boats, and related the circumstance 

 to me two years ago. 



They are only of a recent date in Liguria, compared with 

 the Egyptian, Syrian or Cyprian races. They were domesti- 

 cated by the Syrians and Babylonians before the more north- 

 ern portions of Europe had emerged out of chaos ; long before 

 that period in which our ancestors as described by Julius 

 Ca?sar wore naked and smeared over with paint, or merely 

 clothed with the skins of wild beasts, living in huts and wor- 

 shipping the mistletoe. No doubt the Syrian race is the origi- 

 nal type from which other forms have been derived. By care- 

 ful selection and judicious crossing, not forgetting isolation, 

 they are being brought back to the original type. 



The questioner asks the Doctor the reason for this dis- 

 crepancy In color, especially with queens and drones. He 

 says: " Now is it impurity, degeneration, or what ?" I have 

 DO hesitation In saying it is impurity, because two of a kind 

 mated together, showing the same markings, and from a line 

 of ancestors showing the same fixt characteristics according 

 to the law of breeding, ought to produce something similar, 

 which Is not the case with our imported queens and queens 

 reared anywhere except where there is perfect isolation. 



Having disposed of Dr. J. P. H. Brown, I now turn my 

 attention to Dr. C. C. Miller, who says to his questioner, on 

 pages 029 and 630 of the Bee Journal for 1896 : 



"Drones vary very much in appearance, and there are no 

 markings of the drones that would be taken as a test of pure 

 Italians ; the workers are the ones to go by ; the test of pure 

 Italians being the three yellow bands on all the workers." 



This seems to me strange reasoning, and contrary to the 

 physiological laws, or the laws of breeding. How ridiculous 

 the thought of any breeder of thoroughbred stock describing 

 with accuracy the progeny, and cannot with the same exact- 

 ness describe sire and dam. If such were the case, there 

 would be no constancy or fixedness of characteristics, hence a 

 heterogeneous mass of colors, shapes, etc. There must be 

 some fixt law in the mating of queens as in other creatures, 

 whereby the worker progeny, as described by the Doctor, are 

 all alike in markings. It does not arise from the mere fact of 

 the queen being yellow. There is no casual or haphazard 

 blending of the parts or qualities of two parents. Then when 

 one parent takes the role of two (as far as her drohe progeny 

 is concerned), as does the queen, it very much simplifies mat- 

 ters, making doubly sure the fixedness of every characteristic, 

 especially color, because it is a known law among breeders 

 that the male and female contribute one-half. The male 

 parent chiefly determines the external character, the general 

 appearance — in fact, the outward structure and locomotive 

 powers of the offspring — as the frame-work or bones and 

 muscles, the organs of sense, and skin ; while the female 

 parent chiefly determines the internal structure, and the gen- 

 eral quality, consisting of the vital organs, i. c, heart, lungs, 

 glands, and digestive organs, and giving tone and character 

 to the vital functions, secretion, nutrition and growth. Not 

 that the male is without influence on the internal, or the 

 female without influence on the external — the law holds only 

 within certain restrictions, and these form, as it were, a sec- 

 ondary law, one of limitations; and, furthermore, when copu- 

 lation takes place, unlike most other creatures, discharges 

 only one polar body, which is female, and therefore Influences 

 only the worker progeny. 



Now this should make it plain that the drone has very 

 much to do with the markings and outward structure of his 

 progeny, and should make us more careful in the selection of 

 our breeding stock. 



This brings us to a third law, known to the breeder as 

 atavism or ancestral Influence. The lesson taught by this 

 law is very plain ; it shows the importance of seeking thor- 

 oughbred or well bred stock, whose descendants are from a 

 line of ancestors in which for many generations the desirable 

 forms, qualities, and characteristics have been uniformly 

 shown. Hence the money value of good pedigree. 



Before closing this rather lengthy epistle, a few Illustra- 

 tions may help to show some of the errors that have been 

 made by many writers in dsscribing what constitutes the 



proper marking of our bees. Take the entomological world — 

 our bumble-bees. How uniform in markings, male and 

 female alike. In any of our varieties of wasps we find the 

 same accuracy in markings — neuters, male and female moths 

 and butterflies, the same order in markings prevail. 



In the ornithological world wo find the same order prevail- 

 ing ; the males as a rule having the most gaudy furnishings. 

 Look at our pigeons and their varieties, male and female alike ; 

 our poultry the same, and why not the same uniformity in 

 markings of our bees V I have no doubt these three doctors 

 have closely studied the anatomy of man, and can diagnose 

 with ease the ills that flesh are heir to; but their diagnosis of 

 what constitutes a pure Italian queen or drone falls short of 

 the mark, according to Nature's laws, which the writer has 

 feebly tried to point out. I cannot lay the charge of ignor- 

 ance to the writers, but they certainly had not consulted the 

 physiological laws, or the laws of breeding, or they would 

 have seen their error, and made their replies somewhat dif- 

 ferent. 



The amount of error that has been publisht of late on this 

 question, by learned, thinking men, has been rather appall- 

 ing, and the sooner we come to a decision on the question the 

 better it will be for all concerned in the welfare of apiculture; 

 and let us ever remember that all Nature's operations are con- 

 ducted by fixt laws, whether we be able fully to discover them 

 or not ; the same causes always producing the same results. 

 Being illiterate, I prefer to sit and be taught, but when an 

 extended experience and close observation reveals facts, that 

 to-day are rejected and lookt upon by so many — shall I say 

 thinking bee-keepers ? — as mere idle talk, I shall hold to my 

 former opinions, with convictions more deeply iaiprest that 

 the views presented are correct, and I am willing and able to 

 bear all the criticism that will be showered about my ears for 

 advancing what I know to be facts entirely based on Nature's 

 laws. Ontario, Canada. 



Method of Securing Worker-Comb. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTI.E. 



Question. — As I have quite a quantity of combs which 

 are only partly built to fill the frames, which I wish the bees 

 to complete next summer, having as little drone-comb in them 

 as possible, I wish you would explain a little further in regard 

 to how you work for the building of worker-comb, as given on 

 page 891 of Gleanings for 1896. You say there, '.' And by 

 taking them (the combs) out in such a way as to keep the bees 

 desiring only worker-brood," etc. What I wish is to under- 

 stand just how this is done. 



Answek. — When any colony is so weak that it has no de- 

 sire to swarm (during or preceding the swarming season or 

 honey-flow), such a colony will invariably build worker-comb 

 (so that worker-brood may be reared till the colony comes into 

 a prosperous condition), providing they do not have sufBcient 

 comb already built. Taking advantage of this fact, I use all 

 colonies which are too weak to store honey to advantage at 

 the beginning of the honey-flow, treating them thus : 



Their combs are generally all taken from them ; but 

 sometimes I leave one comb partially filled with brood, and 

 always one of honey, giving the combs of brood to other colo- 

 nies so that they will be still stronger for the honey-harvest. 

 I now put in one, two, and sometimes three frames with 

 starters in them, or frames which are partly filled with comb 

 (as our questioner says his are), just according to the size of 

 the little colony, after I have taken their combs away. In all 

 cases I see that each one has a frame well-filled with honey; 

 for should storms or cloudy, windy weather come on at this 

 time they would build no comb of any amount, and might 

 starve; while with the frame of honey they will go right on 

 converting the honey into comb, storm or no storm. If the 

 right number of frames are given to suit the size of the little 

 colony, they will fill them quickly, especially when honey Is 

 coming in from the fields, and each comb will be filled with 

 brood as fast as built. If not too strong they will generally 

 build comb of the worker size of cell till the brood begins to 

 hatch from the eggs first laid in the newly-built combs by the 

 queen ; but as soon as many bees hatch they will change to 

 the drone size of cells ; or If the little colony is quite strong 

 in bees they may change the size of cells sooner than this. 

 Hence, as soon as the first frames I gave them are filled with 

 comb, look to see about how many bees they have; and If 

 they are still well stockt with bees, or are in a shape where I 

 may expect that they may change the size of cell before they 

 reach the bottoms of the frames with worker-comb (should I 

 spread those apart which they already have and Insert other 

 empty or partially filled frames), I take out the combs they 



