Te AMERICAN 



* * ^ 



Apiculturist. 



A Journal Devoted, to Practical Beetceeping. 



VOL. X. 



DECEMBER, 1892. 



No. 12.' 



FIVE-BANDKDBEES. 

 a good wokd in their favoij. 



Editor of the American Apicultur- 

 ist. Seeing .your "notes of warning," in 

 tlie Oct.No. of iheApi, cautioning honey 

 producers against cultivating, or having 

 anything to. do with the five-banded 

 bees, is ray excuse for writing this arti- 

 cle for pubUcation in your paper. 



As you ask those that are interested 

 to speak out, I will give you my expe- 

 rience, for the past season with six col- 

 onies offive-banded Italians, placed in a 

 yard with a hundred colonies spring 

 count. The yard of bees was made up of 

 all the kinds of bees that are said to be 

 the best, such as Italians, Blacks, Fu- 

 nics, Carniolans, Golden Carniolans, 

 and hybrids of all the different species 

 of bees that I had, and the five-banded 

 bees showed so many excellent quali- 

 ties, through the entire season, that I 

 have no fault to find with them ; but on 

 the other side, will say, that for the one 

 season that I have worked them, they 

 have proved to be the best bees I have 

 ever cultivated. I am only giving them 

 credit for what they have done in one 

 season, and how they will please me af- 

 ter a longer acquaintance, time will telh 



My experience up to the past season 

 with the light- Italians,- the real beauties 



as they are called, agreed with yours, Mr. 

 Editor ;just as you say, good for nothing 

 but to look at. 



I have said as much against the beau- 

 tiful light Italians, as any honey pro- 

 ducer that 1 know of, for the reason 

 that I never was fortunate enough to 

 get any that could get a living, and 

 something to spare, to pay me for car- 

 ing for them. 



The way I came to have the five- 

 banded Italians was, I might say, by ac-^ 

 cident. The honey season for 1891 

 was the poorest in this locality that. we 

 ever had, and there were but a few colo- 

 nies in my yard that got honey enough 

 to live on, and nearly all those that did 

 get more than a living were descendatits 

 from Bellinzona queens that I bought 

 some six or seven years ago. Now at 

 that time I had a few colonies that had 

 lost their queens at swarming time-, and 

 I had got to have queens soon, or lose 

 the colonies. In about a week I found 

 some queens at the P. O. and also a let- 

 ter, stating that the man I bought of had 

 quit rearing Bellinzona queens, for the 

 larger part of his customers were dis- 

 satisfied with them, on account of their 

 being so' dark colored, and that he was 

 now send ng out queens that pleased 

 everybody. My first thought, on look- 

 ing- at'the queens, was that I would re- 

 (181) 



