AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



235 



bee-men of the country. I would like 

 to have this put in the Bee Journal, so 

 that he could see it. 



Alexander Grant. 



In order that Mr. Grant, as well as 

 any others, may hereafter know what 

 Italian bees should look like, we take 

 this description of Italian bees from 

 Prof. Cook's "Bee-Keepers' Guide-, or 

 Manual of the Apiary :" 



"The Italian worker-bee is quickly 

 distinguished by the bright yellow rings 

 at the base of the abdomen. Perhaps 

 "golden" would be a better term, as 

 these bands are often bright orange. If 



ITALIAN WORKER-BEE. 



the colony be pure, every bee will show 

 three of these golden girdles. The first 

 two segments or rings of the abdomen, 

 except at their posterior border, and 

 also the base or anterior border of the 

 third, will be of this orange-yellow hue. 

 The rest of the back or dorsal surface 

 will be much as in the German race. 

 Underneath the abdomen, except for a 

 greater or less distance at the tip, will 

 also be yellow, while the same color ap- 

 pears more or less strongly marked on 

 the legs. 



"The workers have longer lignite or 

 tongues than the German race, and 

 their tongues are a little more hairy. 



They are also more active, and less in- 

 clined to sting. 



" The queen has the entire base of her 

 abdomen, and sometimes nearly the 

 whole of it, orange yellow. The varia- 

 tion as to the amount of color is quite 

 striking. Sometimes very dark queens 

 are imported right from the Ligurian 

 hills, yet all the workers will wear the 

 badge of purity — the three golden bands. 



"The drones are quite variable. 

 Sometimes the rings and patches of 

 yellow will be very prominent, then, 

 again, quite indistinct. But the under- 

 side of the body is always, so far as I 

 have observed, mainly yellow." 



L,i"ve Bees and samples of liquids 

 can now be sent in the mails to the 

 Dominican Republic we learn from the 

 following published in the United States 

 Official Postal Guide for July : 



Post-Office Department, 

 Office of Foreign Mails, 



Washington, D. C, June 5, 1892. 

 The International Bureau of the 

 Universal Postal Union, at Berne, Switz- 

 erland, has officially informed this De- 

 partment that the Postal Administration 

 of the Dominican Republic gives circu- 

 lation in its mails to live bees and sam- 

 ples of liquids, fatty substances and 

 powders. Consequently those articles 

 will be admitted to the mails hereafter 

 dispatched from this country for the 

 Dominican Republic, provided they are 

 packed in exact accordance with the 

 conditions prescribed in paragraphs "i " 

 and "j," Note 14, page 905, of the 

 United States Official Postal Guide, for 

 January, 1892. 



By direction of the Postmaster-Gen- 

 eral, N. M. Brooks, 

 Superintendent of Foreign Mails. 



The Dominican Republic is just east 

 of Cuba, being the eastern and larger 

 part of the island of Hayti, which has 

 an area of 18,000 square miles, and a 

 population of 250,000. 



The Cortland Union Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold their annual 

 picnic at Floral Trout Park, Cortland, 

 N. Y., on Aug. 24, 1892. A special in- 

 vitation is extended to all interested. 



