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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



end Replies. 



Queens Producing or More Banclecl Bees 



Query 831.— Do you not think that an 

 Italian queen that produces worker-bees with 

 three or more distinct yellow bauds, is purely 

 mated ?— F. 



Yes. — C. C. Miller. 



Yes. — Eugene Secoe. 



Yes, most assuredly. — J. M. Ham- 



BAUGH. 



Not always,or necessarily. — M.Mahin. 



Yes, if all her workers are thus 

 marked. — J. P. H. Brown. 



If all her bees have three yellow 

 bands, she is purely mated. — H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



I think it would be impossible to say 

 for certain whether she is or not. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



It is quite likely that she is purely 

 mated, but this is not an absolute proof. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



Yes, if the workers are all three, 

 banded ; yet they may, or may not be. — 

 Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



If all her worker-bees have three or 

 more yellow bands, I should say she was 

 purely mated. — A. B. Mason. 



Yes, or so nearly so that it would take 

 several generations to detect a mixture 

 if there was any. — Mrs. Jennie Atch- 

 ley. 



I am not a very good judge of the 

 markings of the Italian bee. I have no 

 " full-bloods," and I don't want them. — 

 E. France. 



Yes, to all intents and purposes. The 

 American Italian was produced by selec- 

 tion, and the "survival of the fittest." 

 — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



That is the way it is generally stated, 

 but if the Italian is only a thoroughbred 

 or hybrid bee, the word "pure" or 

 "purity" should find no place in our 

 statements. — G. M. Doolittle. 



I understand the three yellow bands to 

 be only one of the indications of pure 

 Italian bees. There must be also mild- 

 ness of temper, and a disposition to 

 adhere well to the combs on handling. — 

 G. L. Tinker. 



I should think so, provided every 

 worker bee had three yellow bands, 

 and no more ; although I am of the 

 opinion that it might be possible that 

 she might be impregnated by an impure 

 male. — James Heddon. 



Yes, most assuredly, if all the bees are 

 thus marked, as stated in Query No. 

 830. In very rare cases they might do 

 so, even though impurely mated. Just 

 as a half-blood shorthorn and poll Angus 

 might be black and hornless, and gen- 

 uine Angus, to all appearance. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



The above is the only real visible test, 

 and when I find a queen that invariably 

 shows three or more yellow bands in her 

 worker progeny, such progeny being 

 "clever," I am sure she is purely mated. 

 The same result, however, will follow if 

 she mates with pure drones of the other 

 yellow varieties, so the " cleverness " of 

 the workers must be taken into consid- 

 eration. — J. E. Pond. 



I cannot say. In common parlance, 

 when a queen meets a male of her own 

 race, she is "purely mated." I think it 

 most nearly certain that I have bred 

 queens so highly by selection and per- 

 sistent care, that they would produce 

 workers with three or more yellow 

 bands — the male parent being a hybrid. 

 I have had several colonies of bees in 

 my yard when left to breed and swarm 

 in the natural way, that have risen from 

 hybrids to " three or more banded bees," 

 and then in process of time graded down 

 to hybrids again. — G. W. Demaree. 



Uniform yellow bands on bees are (as 

 theologians tell us) the "outward and 

 visible sign" of inward purity ; but such 

 things are not invariably to be relied 

 upon. Generally, three yellow bands 

 upon all the worker-bees of a colony 

 would indicate that the queen was 

 purely mated. But if the workers were 

 irascible, or not very industrious, it 

 would be quite reasonable to doubt the 

 purity of the queen's fertilization. — 

 Editors. 



The Globe Bee-Veil, which we offer 

 on the third page of this number of the 

 Bee Journal, is just the thing. You 

 can get it for sending us only three new 

 subscribers, with $3.00. 



When You Have any honey to sell, 

 get some Honey Almanacs and scatter 

 in your locality. They will sell it all in 

 a very short time. 



