THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



713 



ous conditions of mating. In the 

 American Bee Jouknal of Sept. 

 27Ui, 1882, the editor in reply to a 

 question, answers : "If Italian queens 

 are mated to black drones, they {the 

 bees) are much more irascible than the 

 pure blacks; if black queens mate 

 witli Italian drones, then tlie traits of 

 disposition are most likely to be re- 

 versed." This statement has, I be- 

 lieve been asserted in substance by 

 others. Accepting it as a fact and 

 remembering that Dlack bees are more 

 irascible than Italians, we may fairly 

 draw the inference that where these 

 races are intermated, the drones par- 

 ticipating in the inter-breeding, 

 subordinate the cross in nervous char- 

 acter. This should be accepted as a 

 rule, modi tied by exceptions that con- 

 firm the rule. From experiments con- 

 ducted with whatever care and dis- 

 crimination I am able to bring to the 

 work, I have proved to my satisfaction 

 that it is practicable to breed from 

 Italian queens, mated to Cyprian 

 drones, a progeny that resembles, in 

 characteristics, pure Cyprians. The 

 first and second generations from such 

 matings are liable to sport. Italian 

 queens bred to Cyprian drones Jo not 

 produce the same results in royal prog- 

 eny, as we secure from Cyprian queens 

 bred to lUilian drones. We are not to 

 presume, therefore, that mere equiv- 

 alents in blood will produce the same 

 characteristics in bees, else a Cyprian 

 queen mated to an Italian drone, and 

 conversely, an Italian queen mated to 

 a Cyprian drone, each producing half 

 and lialf from the two races, should 

 throw queens alike, which is not the 

 fact. My experiments in 1881 and 

 1882, incline me to think that in mat- 

 ing between Cyprians and Italians, 

 the drones are prepotent. In a letter 

 just received from Mr. II. Alley, he 

 re-affirms his oft-repeated statement 

 of opinion to the same effect. 



In order to correct results it will be 

 necessary to conduct experiments with 

 pure races. Pure blacks and Cyprians 

 would afford excellent subjects. The 

 most useful material results would 

 probably be reached in inter-breeding 

 Italians and Cyprians. The same as- 

 surances of correct matings could be 

 had in these experiments, that we 

 have in breeding Italians or Cyprians 

 in purity, accepting the tlieory of 

 parthenogenesis. I consider the blood 

 of all drones as derived from the mat- 

 ings of their grand dams. Hence, 

 when the queens are half and half or 

 the two races, the drones would be 

 pure bloods of the line of the queen, 

 and when in process of breeding the 

 drones are half and half of the blood 

 of the race participating, the bees and 

 queen progeny would be three-fourths 

 Bloods, if the order of the matings has 

 been continuous. Consideration of 

 these facts is essential to definite re- 

 sults in inter- breeding bees. I do not 

 ignore tlie inlluence of climate, isola- 

 tion, food and natural selection. As 

 factors in breeding, all should be con- 

 sidered. These alone did not make 

 Bakewell's slieep, nor the shorthorn 

 cattle, nor the Essex pig. A sire of 

 prepotencies is not an accident. In 

 order to be improved, a race must 

 offer in itself tlie suggestion of the 



possibilities of its future. In other 

 words, we do not create, but weevolve 

 a character already inherent in the 

 subject. More than this we may not 

 hope to accomplisli. 



A cross and its inversion may differ 

 widely in useful characteristics. A 

 familiar illustration is found in the 

 mule, an animal of great hardihood 

 usefulness, and the invoise Hinny, a 

 product so useless as to be rarely seen. 

 In crosses, the strongest tendencies 

 are back toward the pure blood of 

 either parent, rather than a balanced 

 result of the iuter-breeding. Hence 

 variations are quickly merged into the 

 original type if lired into line. Hope 

 of success in inter-breeding bees may 

 be drawn from the fact of their near 

 alliance with each other, and the con- 

 sequent plasticity of the races rela- 

 tively. No process of breeding, more 

 certainly develops primordial char- 

 acteristic than that of crossing. The 

 significance of a cross may antedate 

 all history, leaping a chasm of centu- 

 ries of time. 



The Italian queen from which my 

 experiments were made this year, was 

 sent me as a tested one by a breeder 

 of assured integrity, yet such was the 

 tendency to sports in the second gen- 

 eration of queens bred from her, that 

 I at first hesitated in the belief of her 

 purity, but reflecting that the Italian 

 IS a "continental race, and that the 

 Cyprian is of insular breeding, I con- 

 clude that this is precisely the develop- 

 ment that should be anticipated. The 

 sporting in color has been upon varied 

 shades of ming'ed chestnut and yel- 

 low. The (lueeus that I have seen 

 from Cyprians bred to Italian drones 

 have been uniformly marked, showing 

 the prepotency and purity of the Cyp- 

 rian relatively. Queens bred from 

 the Italian, being of the second gen- 

 eration mated to Cyprian drones were 

 prolific and gentle. The first crosses 

 of bees are as a class active, prolific, 

 hardy and industrious. Formerly, I 

 was inclined to Hud a reason for this 

 in the idea that the strongest and 

 most energetic queens would seek their 

 matings at greatest distances of flight 

 from their homes, and I yet ascribe 

 importance to that view, but the 

 analogies point to ther conclusion that 

 the result arises mainly from crossing. 

 Flowers show undoubted coaptation 

 to pollen brought from other individ- 

 uals of the same race, and hence, per- 

 haps, the conclusion among botanists 

 that the pollen or male principle is 

 prepotent with flowers. It should not 

 be forgotten that hybrids rnay lose 

 their qualities as easily as pure races 

 when too closely inter-bred. In view 

 of the foregoing, I accept it as a theo- 

 retical proposition that a race of bees 

 sliould be sustained by new blood. 

 Since among bees, the queen submits 

 the question of the survival of the 

 fittest to the wager of battle, and since 

 the queen gives character largely to 

 her progeny, I submit the hypothesis, 

 that when a race of bees produce 

 queen-cells in large numbers, this 

 handing over to the best fighter among 

 many the possession of the colony, the 

 race itself, may reasonably be ex- 

 pected to afford staunch defenders of 

 their rights. I have counted 75 per- 



fected queen-cells in a single colony of 

 Cyprians, formed under natural im- 

 pulse. It would be irrational to deny 

 to the survivor of 7.5 queens in battle, 

 her well-earned laurels. 



I close this paper with an aptquota- 

 tion from an article by Sir J. Lubbock, 

 " on certain relations between plants 

 and insects." He says : " I venture to 

 think the evidence now brought for- 

 ward, however imperfectly, is at least 

 sufficient to justify the conclusion that 

 there is not a hair, or a line, not a spot, 

 or a color, for which there is not a rea- 

 son, which has not a purpose or a- 

 meaning in the economy of nature."' 



Shelbyville, Ky. 



Utah Bee-Keepers' Couvention. 



The Utah bee-keepers' assembled at 

 Salt Lake City, on Oct. 5, at 7 p. m.- 

 Fres. A. M. Musser in the chair. 



Tooele county was represented by 

 Secretary T. W. Lee, who said that in 

 Tooele City they started with 65 colo- 

 nies of bees this spring. Their in- 

 crease had been 96 swarms, making a 

 total of 161 colonies at this time in 

 good condition for winter. The honey 

 season had been fair this year. They 

 had extracted 3,060 pounds of honey,, 

 and taken consideraule comb honey. 

 Swarming commenced on the 28th of 

 May. Some of our bee-keepers 

 allowed natural swarming, while 

 others divided for fticrease. They had 

 no foul brood. In Grantsville there 

 was no organization, but would like 

 a branch association there. They 

 were pleased with the profitable en- 

 terprise and would try and give a bet- 

 ter report next meeting. 



Vice President Samuel McKay put 

 into winter quarters 76 colonies of 

 bees, in good condition, and, when 

 the very late spring set in, he had only 

 15 colonies left and some of them in a 

 very weak condition. He had nursed 

 and cared for them this summer, and 

 had them back nearly to their former 

 number, having his hives well stocked 

 with combs and honey, facilitating 

 very much his increase, but he had 

 not taken much honey this year. 

 Some of his hives now had 90 lbs. of 

 honey in them. From the best infor- 

 mation he could gain, about 90 per 

 cent, of the bees had died in Salt- 

 Lake county. The sudden changes 

 of last winter and the late spring, he- 

 thought was the cause of so many 

 losses, Mr. Murphy, of Mill Creek, 

 had lost 100 colonies out of 107. Mr. 

 Bailey also had lost nearly ail of his 

 bees at the same place. Mr. Woodruff" 

 lost his entire stock of over 20 colo- 

 nies ; also John and Edward Morgan, 

 of Mill Creek, lost all of their colo- 

 nies. W. A. O. Smoot, of Sugar 

 House Ward, lost 40 colonies. The 

 loss to Mr. Murphy alone would be, 

 counting his colonies at $12 each, $1,- 

 200. 



A question, by Secretary Lee, was 

 asked : Could a September swarm of 

 bees be successfully wintered if fur- 

 nished with young brood and honey 'f 



Edward Stevenson said that two 

 years ago, late in September, he cap- 

 tured a stray swarm aiid gave them to- 

 one of his small boys. The night h& 



