168 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTUBIST. 



whole of my apiary either pure Funics 

 or Punic crossed. See my letter in 

 Journal of Horticulture, January 7th, 

 page II. A friend of mine who has 

 every facility for inspecting my bees 

 says that he is so well satisfied of the 

 superiority of the Funics over the com- 

 mon bees that as soon as he can effect 

 the change he shall not keep a common 

 bee in his garden. These same editors 

 gave us to understand on August 2 7th 

 last that we could get these queens im- 

 ported for 10 francs each, equal to 8s. 

 Now they tell us "the supply is stopped, 

 and none will be sent in future." Nor 

 does it appear that they have brouglit 

 a queen home with them, except, per- 

 haps, a dead one. So far my Funics 

 are far in advance of the others this 

 season, and I am glad to say I can ob- 

 tain all the Funic queens I want alive 

 and well. Flease explain the above 

 confliction. — Wm. Carlton mjourfial 

 of Horticulture, England. 



[If any one can keep track of the ed- 

 itors of the B. B. J. they can do more 

 than the editor of the Api is able to do. 

 Cowan says there are no such bees as 

 Funics. In the next paper, possibly the 

 same paper, he will give all the evidence 

 possible that such bees do exist. 



Cowan said no one ever heard of yel- 

 low-banded bees in Carniola, yet, by 

 referring to his bee paper the B. B. J. 

 there was abundance of evidence to 

 prove that there was not an apiary in 

 Carniola that did not show more or less 

 yellow-banded bees. 



Beekee[)ers of America, save a few 

 close friends of Cowan, long ago had 

 reason to discredit any statements made 

 editorial in the B. B. J. 



Cowan went in to ruin the reputation 

 of John Hewitt ; it now looks as though 

 Hewitt would come out unscorched, 

 while C. has suffered badly in the 

 muss. "Do unto others, etc." 



TFIE ALLEY" BEES. 



Mr. Alley : — That controversy be- 

 tween Mr. Frank Benton and you re- 

 garding those yellow bees you produced 

 by selection and breeding from what 

 hitherto had simply been called the Car- 

 niolan bees and which you naraad the 

 "golden" Carniolans — said controversy 

 methinks involves a preliminary question 

 that has to be solved before any other 

 discussion concerning them can be en- 

 tered upon. The question I mean is 

 this : Have these bees any properties 

 of their own? Are they endowed with 

 any characteristics that distinguish them 

 from the Italian bees ? Is for instance 

 their color a peculiar one ? Or their size ? 

 Or what else ? 



If the question is to be answered in \ 



the negative then these bees are (or are ' 



they not ?) Italians and there seems not 

 to be much of a necessity to give them ; 



a name of their own. 1 



But if the answer has to be made in 

 the affirmative then of course they must 

 be baptized and the fraternity has to de- ; 



cide who is right, Mr. Alley or Mr. Ben- \ 



ton. • 



Will you as the "father" of these bees 

 give us light in said direction and par- ; 



don me — who never saw one of them — 

 when till further information I just call 1 



them "The Alley Bees" ? ■ 



Charles Norman. ; 



St. Petersburg, Fla. \ 



[I have on several occasions given in 

 the Api the history of the yellow Carnio- 

 lans. The Carniolans are very gentle, in- | 

 dustrious and handsome bees, that is, ^ 

 they have three yellow bands of a rich or- 

 ange or golden color. I hardly think any ^ 

 one can distinguish them from the Ital- \ 

 ians ; yet there is no Italian blood in ' 



