208 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Conclusive Evidence tliat the 

 i^uecn is Pure. 



Query 884.— If all the worker-bees are 

 three-banded, is that conclusive evidence that 

 the queen is pure, and that she is purely 

 mated ?— Tenn. 



Yes. — Jas. a. Stone. 



I should think so. — E. France. 



Practically, yes. — James A. Gkeen. 



It is so considered. — J. P. H. Brown. 



Yes, I should consider it so. — C. H. 

 Dibbern. 



I can't say positively. Who can ? — J. 

 H. Larrabee. 



I don't know of any better evidence. 

 Do you ?— C. C. Miller. 



It is very good evidence, yet not con- 

 clusive. — H. D. Cutting. 



It ought to satisfy any reasonable 

 person. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I should want a uniformity in their 

 bands in addition. — P. H. Elwood. 



I believe this is in accord with stan- 

 dard authority. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



We have been satisfied to accept this 

 as evidence of purity. — S. I. Freeborn. 



Yes, quite good, though not absolutely 

 positive. It is acceptable. — Dadant & 

 Son. 



Such bees would satisfy me if I were 

 buying an Italian queen. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



If there are only black and Italian 

 bees in the region, I should say yes. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



If gentle, and have all the other traits 

 peculiar to Italians, I should feel satis- 

 fied. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



No. I have had such workers when 

 it was impossible the mother should 

 have been purely mated. — R. L. Tay- 

 lor. 



It is presumptive, but not conclusive. 

 Queens having a dash of black blood 

 sometimes produce very light-colored 

 bees all three-banded. — M. Mahin. 



Pure what ? If you mean pure Ital- 

 ian, I have never seen an imported 

 Italian queen that produced all three- 

 banded bees. — Emerson T. Abbott. 



Yes ; I have found it so. Perhaps 

 there are exceptions. Watch the temper 

 and working-qualities of your bees, as 

 this is of quite as great importance. — 

 Will M. Barnum. 



Without a long talk on this matter, I 

 will say yes, that's my sign — all three- 

 banded, and uniform. An impurely 

 mated queen certainly never produces 

 such bees.— Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



According to the books, yes ; but I 

 consider the Italian bee a thoroughbred 

 and not a pure race. For this reason 

 we find the workers varying all the way 

 from nearly black bees to the so-called 

 five-banded, or nearly yellow bees of the 

 present. — G. M. Doollitle. 



Not necessarily so. The Italian bee is 

 a "thoroughbred," not a pure-blood 

 race, and hence they vary in color unless 

 bred long and carefully from selected 

 specimens. But perhaps the three- 

 band test is as near the conservative 

 point as can be reached. — G. W. Dem- 



AREE. 



It is the only test we have that is of 

 real value. If all the workers are 

 three-banded, there can be no question 

 as to purity both of blood and of mat- 

 ing, and is a test that all should be sat- 

 isfied with. The main question now-a- 

 days is, however. Are individual colonies 

 good, irrespective of markings? — J. E. 

 Pond. 



I should say yes. The best evi- 

 dence of purity aside from mating can 

 probably be found in the drones. I 

 should like to ask if every one knows 

 what is meant by a three-banded bee. I 

 think some place too much stress on 

 beauty; beauty, it is said, is "only skin 

 deep ;" in the bee it is less than that — 

 only "hair deep." — R. F. Holtermann. 



CouTention IVotices. 



INTERNATIONAL.-The North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its 24th 

 annual convention on Oct. 11.12 and 13, 1893, 

 in Chicago, Ills. Not only is every bee-keeper 

 in America, whether a member of the society 

 or not, invited to be present, but a special In- 

 vitation is extended to friends of apiculture 

 it every foreign land, Fkank Benton. Sec. 



Washing-ton, D. C. 



Bees and Honey »»— page 195. 



