FEBRUARY 1, 1916 



117 



first hand from beekeepers there, and I 

 have again and again heard in public and 

 in private the information the four New 

 York State bee-inspectors had upon this 

 disease, and this information still makes me 

 dread the disease among our bees. 



Mr. Selwyn's own article condemns his 

 argument. He saj's, " Notwithstanding the 

 fact that Italians can rise up in the midst 

 of European foul brood and overcome it, I 

 believe that they must suffer first (some 

 worse than others) before becoming im- 

 mune to other ravages." Taking this to be 

 a correct statement, should it be no cause 

 for anxiety? Is this period of sutfering of 

 no practical interest? As I said once be- 

 fore, I doubt if a strain of bees is immune 

 in one locality and not in another. I doubt 

 if there are any scientific data for such a 

 claim. 



Now as to Mr. Crane : I have put into 

 winter quarters 748 colonies of bees. There 

 has been plenty of work each season with- 

 out looking after Eui'opean foul brood ; in 

 fact, it has practically always been a case 

 of doing what has been considered the most 



important, and leaving that which was the 

 least imjDortant undone. With what I would 

 consider a pretty extensive business, the 

 addition of this disease to look for and 

 stamp out will add very much to my care, 

 to say nothing of the loss thru dead larvae 

 which would otherwise develop into a work- 

 ing force. We have not only to get rid of 

 the disease, but we have to look for it in 

 every colony. I shall consider that, for the 

 safety of our own bees, as well as a duty to 

 other beekeepers in the vicinity. The bees, 

 as far as possible, should be prevented from 

 coming in contact Avith diseased larvae. 



To save any one from further trouble, let 

 me say that, after closely questioning quite 

 a number who have had the disease (Euro- 

 peaii foul brood) among their bees, after 

 reading pretty well all that has been writ- 

 ten about the disease in American bee liter- 

 ature, and after a season's experience with 

 the disease, the kind of man whom I wish 

 to advise me is the one who has stamped 

 out the disease after it has spread among 

 his bees, not one who admits he has never 

 got rid of it. 



Brantford, Canada. 



IS THE BLACK BEE THE STRONGER ? 



BY WILLIAM BEUCUS 



If we introduce a few Italian queens in 

 an apiary and secure a general sprinkling 

 of yellow thruout the yard, and if, then, we 

 leave the queens and drones to cross as they 

 please, we shall find that the yellow color 

 of the workers gradually disappears. Ob- 

 servation of this iihenomenon has caused 

 many beekeepers to assert that the black 

 bee is stronger, more predominant, and, 

 therefore, the better bee. Now, it appears 

 to me that this is not necessaril}' .so, and 

 that a satisfactory explanation of the rever- 

 sion from yellow to black can be given. 



If I re^nember righfly, it was Darwin 

 who called attention to the fact that, if a 

 number of varieties of fancy pigeons, such 

 as fantail, pouter, etc., of various shapes 

 and colors, be crossed, and the process tlien 

 continued with the offspring, the shapes 

 and colors will become less extreme, and in 

 time the contrasts will disappear, leaving as 

 a product of this crossing of breeds the 

 original wild rock pigeon with its distinc- 

 tive shape and markings from which, by a 

 gradual process of selection, all varieties 

 have been bred. 



Now the ex])lanation is as follows: In 

 every species there is a constant tendency 

 to variation — that is, there are small indi- 



vidual differences. But these small varia- 

 tions are not all in one direction. They are 

 in numerous directions; hence, in crossing, 

 the individual peculiarities cancel each oth- 

 er and leave in the offspring the size, color, 

 markings, etc., common to the species as a 

 whole. Thus the species remains a constant. 

 But man watches for variations in one 

 direction, and by crossing with each other 

 individuals showing the same divergence he 

 intensifies, strengthens, and makes perma- 

 nent that divergence. Now, if two or more 

 divergences are made from the same origi- 

 nal stock, as in the case of the pigeon, there 

 still remains in the several varieties an ob- 

 scured tendency to assume the characteris- 

 tics of the original stock. The crossing of 

 the varieties with each other thus mutually 

 cancels the tendencies to assume their va- 

 rious forms, colors, etc., and streng-thens 

 the tendency to assume the form, coloi^ etc., 

 of the stock from which they originated 

 because this tendency is common to all 

 variations. 



It seems to me tliis explains the tendency 

 of the Italian bee to lose its distinctive color 

 and revert to the black. The black is the 

 older race fi'<jm which the yellow has varied. 

 The fact that Italian q^een^ ^x\d, (^rgrses are 



