THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



47 



We would call the attention of 

 our readers to the money-order 

 system of tlie American Express 

 Company. Those who live near 

 this express line can send money 

 cheaply and safely. For informa- 

 tion, inquire of 3'our nearest ex- 

 press company. 



It has been suggested that we 

 give considerable attention to the 

 honey market and we propose to 

 do this, hence we would request 

 our readers to send us any inter- 

 esting items regarding the honey 

 market. 



Remember that we wish you to 

 make all the suggestions that you 

 think would tend toward improving 

 the journal, and as far as in our 

 power lies we will respond. If you 

 do not' care to subscribe, at least 

 let us know what you think of 

 the journal, and send names. , 



AVe have just received 2^ lbs. of 

 bees from T. P. Andrews, Farina, 

 Ills., and must confess that we 

 were never better paid for an invest- 

 ment. The bees came in first-class 

 order. 



LETTEB BOX. 



Prof. Cook, in an issue of the "Ru- 

 ral New Yorker," states that in the Ital- 

 ians, like the Syrians and Cyprians, 

 there are fixed characteristics which 

 are persistent and that therefore they 

 are races. Now, as I nuderstand the 

 meaning of the term "race," it is a 

 modification of a species marked by 

 some persistent characters, in contra- 

 distinction to a variety, the characters 

 of the latter beins; susceptible to re- 

 trogressive modification under the 

 influence of in-and-in-breeding. Now, 

 I have it from unimpeachable author- 

 ity, tha? the Italians do retrograde 

 when allowed to breed freely among 

 themselves, which is a direct contra- 

 diction to Prof. Cook's statement, and 

 I would like, throu,<>li your valuable 

 journal, to ask for information on this 

 subject. Do the Italians retrograde 

 when bred in? My informant claims 

 that he has tested it and that his Ital- 



ians eventually returned to black bees. 

 If tlie above be true and the Syrians 

 and Cyprians are the same (having 

 fixed characteiistics) as Prof. Cook 

 states, have we any true race other than 

 the black bee? Are not our so-called 

 races simply varieties? 



G. A. B. 



Glenwood, Cass Co., Mich. 



Dear Sir : We have just received 

 a new paper devoted to apiculture, 

 published at Salem, Mass., by Silas M. 

 Locke. Tearing ofl' the wrapper the 

 first article that meets our eyes is — 

 Plain Talk on Bee Culture, by J. E. 

 Pond, jr. Mr. Pond talks right to the 

 point; this article alone is worth one 

 year's subscription to beginners. The 

 next two articles are good ; then comes 

 Mr. House's article headed "System." 

 That article was a feast for us, as our 

 ajiiary is worked on the " System" plan 

 (we tiiink so at least) ; every hive and 

 comb just alike with us. 



We use the eight-frame Langstroth 

 Heddon hive and like it first rate. 



Mr. Demaree gives us some good 

 advice. I have always held the ophiiou 

 that it required about as much or a 

 little more brains to put info i)ractical 

 use things invented, in the liiilit shape 

 and at the right time, than it does to 

 invent the same things. 



Then comes that " Winter Problem," 

 by H. Alley. I agree with him that the 

 size of hives makes but little diflerence 

 in wintering, but we have faith that we 

 can take any strain of bees, feed them 

 on granulated sugar and winter them 

 nine times out of ten. Regarding this 

 I speak not from actual experience but 

 from observation and reading. 



We have wintered bees for the past 

 eight winters with cluifl;' protection ; 

 average number of colonies seventy, 

 and never lost enough to speak of from 

 dysentery, excepting the winters of '80 

 and '81 when it took every one, 75, 

 and never left us a "hum." But to 

 proceed. E. E. Hasty's article has got 

 the ring of truth. We have been there, 

 Mr. Editor. Now I have tried to let 

 you know what I think of the sample 

 copy of the Apiculturist. If it contin- 

 ues as good, you can count me as one 

 lifetime subscriber. 



System is success. 

 Success is system. 



W. H. Shirley. 



Foxboro, Mass., May 30, 1883. 

 Friend Locke: You have demon- 

 strated that a first-class apicultural 



