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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 12, 



I am conducting careful experiments 

 in wintering, and believe that if well 

 understood, we need have no trouble. 

 My bees had no tlv from Oct. L'li until 

 Christmas; being r>2 days. They then 

 flew all day and cleansed themselves 

 nicely. There were not over a dozen 

 dead bees in any hive ; no bees Hew 

 away or fell in tlie snow, anil at night 

 all were quiet and dry. They were all 

 packed on the summer stands early, and 

 had several Bights afterwards, before it 

 froze uii. The weather during 52 days 

 was severe, several times going as low 

 as 20 and once 34 below zero ; one or 

 two showed ice in entrance but nearly 

 all are dry. Will Mr. K. inform us 

 through the Journal, whether his bees 

 have been disturbed in any way since it 

 froze up. also state whether they have 

 been moved from the summer stand to 

 another location, or the hives turned 

 around to face a different direction or 

 not; also at what time the first frosts 

 occurred, causing the queen to cease 

 laying. I am anxious to hear of all 

 disasters of this kind that we may trace 

 up the trouble and benefit ourselves and 

 if possible find the cause. 



Arcadia. Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Light vs. Dark-Colored Italian Bees. 



O. O. POl'PLETON. 



three or four years previous to this last 

 year, I have kept as many bees as I 

 could handle alone without assistance, 

 and it has been one of my studies to so 

 arrange everything about my apiary as 

 to save as much labor as possible. The 

 less time it took me to manipulate each 

 hive the larger number of bees I could 

 keep, and of course the more money I 

 could make. A great many of the 

 operations of the hive requires the find- 

 ing of the queen, and all bee-keepers 

 will agree with me that the lighter in 

 color the queen, the easier and quicker 

 can she be found on the combs. If this 

 was the only point of superiorty the 

 Italians have over the blacks, it would 

 amply repay us for their extra cost, and 

 of course applies to the difference be- 

 tween light Italian queens and dark 

 ones, only in a less degree. I do not 

 doubt that I would save money by pay- 

 ing one dollar apiece more for young 

 tested light-colored Italian queens than 

 for dark ones, all things being equal. 

 Williamstown, Iowa, Dec, 20, 1S80. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Importing Bees from Italy. 



REV. A. SALISBURY. 



I see that Mr. Dadant, in a couple of 

 articles published in different bee 

 papers, takes issue with the opinions of 

 several bee-keepers who expressed 

 themselves at the Cincinnati Conven- 

 tion as preferring the light to the dark 

 strains of Italian bees. I have also ! 

 noticed that for several years back | 

 nearly every writer in the bee peri- j 

 odicals. who expressed an opinion at all, 

 seemed to think the dark or leather- 

 colored bees would store the largest 

 amount of honey, other things being I 

 equal. Mv own observation seeming to 

 point so decidedly the other way, led 

 me to make personal inquiries of a large 

 number of practical bee-keepers while 

 at Cincinnati, as to their individual ex- 

 perience, and I think, without a single 

 exception, all I spoke to (some 15 or 20 

 in number) expressed a very decided 

 preference in favor of the light-colored 

 bees. Several went so far as to say that 

 "The claim that the dark-colored i 

 strains of Italian bees are the best \ 

 honey-gatherers is all bosh, and the I 

 reason of the claim being so persistently 

 made is ou account of its being so much 

 easier for queen-breeders to rear dark 

 than light queens."' Of course I know 

 nothing about the truth of the last i 

 opinion. 



In my own apiary I have for years 

 kept a tablet in connection with each of 

 my colonies, on which is recorded, be- 

 sides other things, the grade of both 

 queen and bees. I divide the bees into 

 four grades — the No. .'! are those that I 

 do not feel certain about their purity, 

 on account of being so dark and irregu- 

 lar in coloring, although showing all 

 three bands ; the No. 2 are those I am : 

 satisfied are pure, but somewhat dark 

 in color ; the No. 1 are the light-col- 

 ored, pure bees, and the X No. 1, are 

 the few colonies that, in addition to be- 

 ing very light-colored, are also very 

 regular in color, size, shape and marks. 

 Of course I aim to rear my young 

 queens from these latter. 



As I do not rear queens for sale, but 

 devote my attention entirely to the pro- 

 duction of honey, I desired to breed the 

 coming year from those queens whose 

 colonies have given me the most honey, 

 and have given especial attention to 

 that point. The difference in favor of 

 my lightest-colored colonies was so 

 marked, that I got in the habit, during 

 the season, whenever I lifted the cover 

 from one of those colonies of saying to 

 my assistant, "Here's an X No. 1 

 colony; we'll get lots of honey now," 

 and we almost invariably did get more 

 than the average amount of honey from 



those colonics. 



President Newman, in one of his ad- 

 dresses at the Convention, gave beauty 

 as one of the essential points of a queen, 

 "So they will attract the attention of 

 the fancier of live stock." This is all 

 right so far as it goes but could he not 

 have given another reason V For the 



Farmers' Review. 



Qualities in Bees, Improvement, etc. 



With the bee-keepers of this country 

 it is yet no doubt an important question, 

 whether we shall continue to import 

 bees from Italy. The National Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention, assembled in Cin- 

 cinnati in November last, had. before it 

 the following as a test question • 



Resolved, That the importation of Italian queens 

 is no longer advisable, as an improvement of our 

 present race of bees. 



The resolution was laid on the table 

 almost without debate, .-_s "coming 

 events cast their shadows before," it is 

 not hard to diviire the impression now 

 resting upon the minds of our leading 

 bee-keepers. The points of excellence 

 si i eagerly sought for by the enterprising 

 American bee-master, viz. : Good honey 

 gatherers, longevity, beautiful to look 

 upon, gentle to handle, and good powers 

 of endurance, are to-day so strongly 

 developed in the American improved 

 Italian bee, that Italy is surpassed. 



It is no longer a question, the. Italian 

 bee of Italy is not a distinct race, yet 

 many of us once thought they were. 

 Later investigation proves the fact that 

 there are as black bees in Italy as any- 

 where else, even in the vicinity of Rome 

 itself. If the first Italians imported 

 into this country were a superior race 

 of mixed bees, and have been bred up 

 to a standard of higher excellence and 

 beauty in this country, why continue to 

 import inferior queens to our shores ? 

 We want to hear from leading bee men 

 of the country on this subject. 



If new beginners are taught that 

 nothing will do but queens reared from 

 imported mothers, ot course they must 

 have them— must have what they order 

 and pay their money for. 



After this subject is thoroughly in- 

 vestigated, if found to be a step back- 

 ward to drop the importation of Italian 

 queens, let it be continued with great 

 care, always to get the best Italy affords. 

 Demand says what the character of the 

 queens shall be that are supplied. If 

 public demand says give us queens bred 

 from imported Italian mothers, they 

 must have them ; or, on the other hand, 

 if from the most excellent and beauti- 

 ful improved American Italians, they 

 will get them. In a free Republic like 

 this, the people are the sovereigns. 

 While this is and will remain a fixed 

 fact, duty demands that the truth 

 should be given through our bee papers, 

 so as to educate the public mind to de- 

 mand the best. 



Progress is God's law, by infinite wis- 

 dom and an unseen hand reached down 

 to earth— -a sparkling gem. It is more 

 than probable, with the improved Ital- 

 ians we now have, and the Cyprian and 

 Holy Land bees brought to our country 

 the past season, we will in a few years 

 have the finest bees in the world. Yan- 

 kee enterprise ami genius will combine 

 the most excellent traits of all, and, we 

 hope, drop the imperfections of their 

 ancestry, leaving them on a foreign 

 shore. 

 Camargo, 111., Dec, 1SSS0. 



PROF. A. J. COOK. 



To observing apiarists, and they are 

 becoming very abundant in the United 

 States, it is well known that some bees 

 are far more valuable than others. 

 Some colonies of bees, with no better 

 chances than have others in the apiary, 

 so far as the bee-keeper can see, give, 

 often, two or three times as much honey. 

 The Italians give us more surplus than 

 the German or black bees, and it seems 

 probable, though it may be too early to 

 speak with certainty, that the Cyprian 

 and Syrian races will surpass even the 

 Italian in quantity of their stores. 



At the National Convention, which 

 lately convened at Cincinnati, the state- 

 ment was made that the light-colored 

 Italian bees were superior to the darker 

 ones, or, what means about the same 

 thing, that the Americanized Italians 

 are more valuable than the imported 

 ones. This assertion seems to have 

 been the voice of the Convention, at 

 least the report gives no protest against 

 it. 



For one, I do not believe this state- 

 ment. In fact I feel very certain that 

 it is incorrect. My attention was called 

 to the matter seven or eight years ago. 

 At that time two of America's most 

 able bee-keepers — the late Adam Grimm 

 and Mr. E. Gallup— whose statements 

 on matters pertaining to the apiary 

 rarely needed other support than that 

 given by their own opinion, both spoke 

 out boldly in favor of the darker colored 

 Italians. Since that time I have closely 

 observed, and have always found that 

 they were correct. I believe this opin- 

 ion is also held by such authorities as 

 Chas. Dadant, G.M. Doolittle, James 

 Heddon and T. F. Bingham. At the 

 Michigan State Convention last week, 

 this opinion was unanimously sustained 

 by all who had observed carefully in 

 this direction. 



On the other hand, Mr. T. (4. New- 

 man, for whose ability and judgment I 

 have great respect, believes that the so- 

 called "Apis Americana," (of course 

 this should be Apis Mellifica, variety 

 Americana), is to be the coming bee, if 

 it is not so now. 



Now I wish to urge an opinion, which 

 I believe to be a fact, and a very impor- 

 tant one, too, to the effect that so soon 

 as we cease to import bees we shall find 

 that our apiaries are deteriorating. I 

 have found with Mrs. Raker and others, 

 that when I bought the beautiful light 

 yellow bees which had been closely bred 

 for a long time without any foreign 

 blood being incorporated, that I had 

 got bees that were as valueless as they 

 were handsome. On the other hand, I 

 have found my imported Italian queens, 

 which, though often as black as those of 

 the German race, gave me invariably 

 not only three banded workers, but 

 those that could be counted on for right 

 royal work. I repeat that these queens 

 were very prolific, and their worker 

 progeny always three-banded, though 

 the bands were not of that bright yel- 

 low which characterizes our American- 

 bred Italians. 



Now I believe this matter is very 

 easily explained and a good reason given 

 for the facts as I have stated them. 



All the European bees, and this is 

 peculiarly true of the Italians, Cyprians 

 and Syrians, are bred under the most 

 i trying circumstances. From the. rapid 

 j increase of bees, the limited pasturage, 

 and the fact that nature is for the most 

 ! part the breeder, with the three last 

 j mentioned races the struggle for life is 

 1 intense. Color and beauty are of no 

 account except as they aid their pos- 

 sessor. And so there is the most severe 

 pruning. Those alone survive which 

 can gather sufficient stores despite the 

 drouth, and their numerous competitors. 



Mr. Benton, who has spent the past 

 summer at Larnaea, Cyprus, writes me 

 that the drouth upon the island has been 

 very severe, and that unless he had fed 

 he would have lost all his bees. Such 

 hard conditions must of necessity breed 

 a race of bees which we cannot expect 

 to rival. 



Our American breeders will be very 

 slow to adopt the severe pruning which 

 nature practices with relentless hand in 

 Italy, Cyprus and Syria. Our breeders 



look to some fancied superiority, like 

 white fuzz on orange shield, banded 

 drones, golden color, etc. And we can 

 hardly hope, because of such prejudice, 

 even were there wisdom sufficient, for 

 that hard cold selection, which knows 

 only genuine superiority, that nature 

 always adopts. 



I will, therefore, close by saying that 

 the most progressive apiculture de- 

 mands the frequent importation of these 

 rigidly bred queens from Italy. Cyprus 

 and Syria. 



Lansing, Mich. 



[We are among those who have ob- 

 served " that some bees are far more 

 valuable than others;" at the recent 

 meeting of the National Convention, in 

 Cincinnati, were many old and intelli- 

 gent bee-keepers who have observed it 

 — some of whom have kept bees for 

 more than a score of years for a liveli- 

 hood ; others who keep bees as a combi- 

 nation of recreation and profit; some 

 who keep bees as breeders and to supply 

 a public demand ; while not a few keep 

 them as a source of study and recreation 

 alone. With all these persons, close ob- 

 servation, continual experiment, and 

 discriminating judgment are proverb- 

 ial. With the use of the movable frame 

 contributed by the great Langstroth, 

 and a close study of the scientific Man- 

 ual by Prof. Cook, bee-keepers are ad- 

 vancing in their views as rapidly as 

 science and research develops new 

 truths. The unanimous verdict of the 

 Cincinnati Convention, in favor of the 

 light strains of American-Italians, was 

 undoubtedly based upon discriminating 

 observations. 



We wish it distinctly understood, that 

 while we believe the intelligent and 

 discriminating bee-keepers of America 

 have succeeded in breeding a strain or 

 strains of bees equal, if not superior, to 

 any to be found in Italy, we would not 

 discourage any from importing, if an 

 improvement is possible. But an in- 

 discriminate importation, as is too much 

 the case of late, may be the means of 

 flooding the country with a lot of second 

 rate queens, far inferior, butat ahigher 

 price than much of our really excellent 

 improved stock. We do not doubt there 

 are many tine queens bred in Italy, but 

 we do believe none are better than some 

 of our best. If some queens and some 

 bees in Italy are light and others" black 

 as those of the German race," is it not 

 true that the same shades of disposi- 

 tion prevail ? and has a purchaser any 

 assurance that he is obtaining the bet- 

 ter variety '? We do not believe, with 

 our careful and discriminating breed- 

 ers, it is possible for our superior bees 

 to deteriorate, but, rather, that we are 

 on the higher road to perfection, and 

 that strains may be developed to meet 

 the most exacting exigencies. 



Suppose, however, it should prove 

 true, as now believed by many observ- 

 ing apiarists, that the bee of Italy is 

 itself across, is it not quite possible, nay 

 probable, that the years of careful and 

 observant breeding in this country and 

 portions of Europe, have more fully 

 developed some of the better qualities 

 possessed by one branch of the cross, 

 while it has obliterated the undesirable 

 characteristics of the other? 



Undoubtedly "our American breeders 

 will be very slow to adopt the severe 

 pruning which nature practices" with 

 bees, as with everything else. This is 

 only another expression for " nature's 

 survival of the fittest." According to 

 Mr. Benton, nature last season would 

 have pruned out all his bees hail not 

 humauskill provided for their survival 



