1892 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURK. 



310 



rptical point wo h<>lii'v»> tlu-y possess featuros 

 not foiiiul in aiiv otlirr.l 



ARE THE BEES OF ITALY YELLOW-BANDED 1 



IX WHAT I'AKT OF ITALY TIIK \KI.I,OW HEES 

 Ai:i; KOIXD IX THEIK I'UKITY. 



Following a statoincnl of a cori'espoiidciit, 

 that lit' had hi^cn from oiKM'iid of Italy to the 

 othtT and failed to tiiid any yellow-banded bees, 

 yon seem to have questioned his veracity, 

 with a fesult tliat a controversy has sprung 

 up. Now, as a matter of fact there are very 

 few yellow-banded bees in the country known 

 as "Italy." and. what is more, there is no 

 mountain or other barrier to keep them from 

 mixini: with black bees; consequently they 

 •• shade otT" to lilacks. 



If yon have a copy of Frank Benton's " Bees " 

 [if you have not acopy you will tind a reprint 

 in the BritusJi Bee Jmirnal. on page 81, for 

 March 1. 188.t] you will see that in it he says: 

 •' A few years ago there was quite a discussion 

 in the American bee-publications as to whether 

 black bees existed in Italy or not. and very like- 

 ly many are not yet clearly informed in regard 

 lb this point. An e.xamination, however, of 

 back volumes of the leading Italian bee-journal, 

 L'Apk-nltore (Milan), would .set this point at 

 rest in the minds of all. for plenty of Italian 

 writers on bee culture have stated that very 

 dark bees, not possessing the three yellow bands, 

 exist in various parts of the peninsula and on 

 the adjoining islands. In that portion of the 

 centraT plain having as its northern limit Ber- 

 gamo, its eastern limit Nerana and Mantua, 

 the Apennines on the south, and on the west 

 Milan, we find Italians in their purity; also be- 

 low the Apennines between Genoa and Rome. 

 Outside these regions they shade off into hy- 

 brids." 



Native black bees also exist in Liguria: so 

 you will see. by reference to a map of Italy, 

 that you can travel from the extreme hmglh of 

 that country without meeting with native yel- 

 low-banded bees: therefore it will be seen that 

 the word "Italian" is clearly not the name 

 they ought to have been known by, and is suf- 

 ficient, to explain why I prefer to call the new 

 race I am getting from Tunis "Funics," instead 

 of Tunisians. 



The Romans learned agriculture from the 

 I'o'uians. and it is highly probable that they 

 introduced the bees cultivated by the Fcenians, 

 becau.se the black bees of Italy more closely re- 

 semble the Funics than the German race: but 

 where did the yellow-banded race come from? 

 I am satisfied they did not originate on Italian 

 soil. Frobably the Romans, struck with a dif- 

 ference in color, imported some yellow bees; 

 and these, being put in one district, and multi- 

 plied, have maintained their yellow blood be- 

 cause it preponderated in quantity: therefore 

 all yellow-banded Italians are imbued with 

 black blood, probably Funic, or. at least, a dash 

 of it. which has caused ihem to be likr-d. 



One reason why I think this is so is because 

 preference is always given to dark or leather- 

 colored bees, for gentleness and working quali- 

 ties—these dark bees, of necessity, having 

 most black blood in them: hence, if this dark 

 blood is so valuable it is nothing but logic to go 

 to the fountainhead and get it in its purity in 

 the shape of Funics, and let the yellow bands 

 slide by; for no known pure yellow race has 

 turned" out quite satisfactorily. Where the 

 Italian yellow bands came from I know not — 

 probably the original race, which is most likely 

 — has had some other race of bees fused with 



them, and nuiy l)r now known as Cyprians or 

 Syrians. 



I think the b world ought to find a nice 



slioit name for ycllow-baiiih-d Ix'cs from Italy. 

 The liest of them canic fiom S\vit/,ci-land. Why 

 not give them the lOnglish nanu-. " Ligurians "? 

 It was used here bi^fore they reached America. 

 It may not be correct; but it can be understood 

 to mean only yellow-banded Italian bees. 



CAN rUNIC QUEENS BE SOLD AS CHEAPLY A.S 

 ITALIANS? 



Judging by th(> letters at hand from readers 

 of GLEANiN(is who have addressed their letters, 

 as per my noin de plume, many want to try the 

 Funics, btit they say the price is too high in 

 America, and seem to think they can get thera 

 cheaper In're. Of counsi!. I am pleased to hear 

 from any one who wants to give Funics a trial; 

 but I don't want them to run away with the 

 idea that queens can be reared in England as 

 cheaply as they can in America. In the first 

 place, the climate is against us for the work. 

 But in rearing Funics there is another difficulty 

 to contend with, to get pure mating — and all 

 ask for price of tested queens — viz., that, if any 

 strange drones are on the wing within six miles 

 it is almost impossible to get pure mating, no 

 matter how many drones one may have flying. 

 I cautioned friend Fratt about this at first, and 

 he subsequently found it out, that, no matter 

 how easy it might be to mate Italians and Car- 

 niolans true, it was no easy matter with Funics 

 until drones were generally killed off, and then 

 mating to pn^served drones. 



There are three plans I am following, be- 

 sides requeening all my neighbors' stocks all 

 around with pure Funics; viz., to raise queens 

 early, before other drones get on the wing: 

 do it late, after drones are killed off, and 

 between these to resort to the Mohler sys- 

 tem; in fact, the latter will be used the 

 whole season through, so that my untested 

 queens will have a fair chance to be all purely 

 mated; but all this means trouble and expense, 

 which, of course, has to be paid for. 



lam also arranging for the exclusive use of 

 an island in the Atlantic, and expect to obtain 

 good results in the way of sending hand-picked 

 drones, to mate with sehn'ted queens; thus if I 

 can't secure individual mating I shall at least 

 get it to one out of a selectt'd number. What I 

 am aiming at is to supply queen-breeders with 

 true breeding queens, and not to supply every 

 one with a cheap queen; i. e., try to undersell 

 American breeders who have every thing in 

 their favor. A Hallamshike Bee-Keepek. 



Sheffield, England. 



[We find, by looking at the map, that our 

 Italians, and. in fact, about all the Italians 

 that have been imported into this country, 

 have come from the region described by Mr. 

 Benton as having nothing but pure Italians. 

 It is of but little importance to us whether 

 there are any black or hybrid bees in certain 

 parts of the peninsula or not: but it is a fact, 

 nevertheless, that all the Italians we have re- 

 ceived since we have been in business have 

 been nearly uniform in color, markings, and 

 general characteristics. It is very possible, as 

 you hint, that the Funics may be closely relat- 

 ed to the dark Italians. We have Funic queens 

 in our apiary now, and we shall take pleasure 

 in watching them very narrowly this summer. 

 We doubt, however, whether we shall be able, 

 or, rather, whether it would be advisable to at- 

 tempt to rai.se dark bees in our locality, since it 

 is so thoroughly Italianized — that is, permeated 

 with yellow blood. As the Funics look so much 

 like black bees— that is. to the average bee- 

 keeper — it will be very difficult to tell when we 



