54 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 



ence of imperfect qiieeus. I might ex- 

 plain here that the imperfect queens 

 are those raised from a too old larva 

 and cannot be fecundated, therefore 

 lay only drone eggs. 



Such assertions could n(5t remain un- 

 challenged. Quotations to the contraiT 

 from Hul)er down to Chas. Dadant 

 were produced. Several cases were 

 quoted ^showing that a large propor- 

 tion of the bees examined under the 

 microscope had shown enlarged 

 ovaries and eggs. Donhoff had once 

 caught a bee carrying pollen and yet 

 having the enlarged ovaries and eggs, 

 showing the laying worker character- 

 istic. Some say that the laying 

 worker or workers can be got rid of 

 by shaking all the bees at a distance 

 of their home and letting go liack 

 those that will. Charles Dadant 

 is quoted as having said that, ns far 

 as his experience goes, there is no such 

 thing; and that there will be as many 

 laying workers after the opera; ion as 

 before. 



After all was said and argued, it be- 

 came evident that there are such 

 things as fertile workers and when 

 tLere is any, they are in large num- 

 bers. Rut, on the other hand, a con- 

 siderable proportion of the supposed 

 laying workers' colonies ai'e merely 

 cases of imperfect queens. 



Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 11, 1904. 



BLACK BEES. 



They Have Meritorious Traits Not Possessed by the 



Italians. 



By T. S. Hall. 



THE black bees of this part of the 

 country have some very fine 

 points in their favor, while they 

 po.ssess some very objectionable fea- 

 tures. 



They are a hardy race that winter 

 well, stand the severe changes of 

 spring without dwindling; are never 

 found to be diseased in any way. No 

 such thing as foul brood, black brood, 

 pickled broo-d or paralysis. They com- 

 mence to breed very early — much 

 earlier than the Italians. The queens 

 are very large and prolific; they cap 

 their honey snowy white, are good 

 workers, but not quite as good as the 

 Italians. They will enter the supers 

 almost at once when the first honey 



flow comes. In the spring they work 

 better in the supers than the Italians, 

 putting all their honey above the brood 

 chamber. If they have the room they 

 do not crowd out the queen like the 

 Italians; they are fine queen-celF build- 

 ers. Their objectionable points are 

 their ill-temper; they are more vicious 

 than the Italians, when we smoke 

 them down they come back just as 

 quick as the smoke stops. Not so with 

 the Italian. They are very excitable 

 and will run ofE the combs when being 

 handled and easily become the prey of 

 robbers or the wax moth. They are 

 very easy to become discouraged and 

 seemingly just give up when they get 

 weak or the wax moth gets into their 

 combs. If we could eliminate these 

 few objections they would be the best 

 race we have; but those three points 

 are very serious marks against them. 

 If anyone has ever seen black bees 

 with paralysis we would like to hear 

 from them. 



If as much care and selection was 

 given the black race of bees as has 

 been given the Italians and other races 

 no doubt there would have been great 

 improvements made on the blacks. 

 Their virgin queens are very quick 

 and active. Their drones are the 

 swiftest flyers and very active on the 

 wing. Selection has brought about 

 considerable changes and improve- 

 ments, and selections should not all be 

 made from the queen side. The drone 

 transmits certain traits to the progeny 

 of the queen that will not come from 

 the queen. Stock breeders use as 

 much care in selecting their sires as 

 they do in the female. The selections 

 should be made from both sides. 



Jasper, Ga., Jan 20, 1904. 



(Black bees in South Florida are not 

 less subject to paralysis than other 

 races, we think. — Editor.) 



I wish to congratulate you on your 

 standpoint of limiting The American 

 Bee-Keeper to matters apicultural. 

 One of the rarest of virtues these days 

 is a resolute abstainance from preach- 

 ing. This is no joke. If j^ou can keep 

 your promiise, you are a rare bird. — 

 Henry E. Horn. 



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 The American Bee-Keeper. 



