284 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tlie American Bee JouraaL 



Systematic Breeding, etc. 



G. W. DEMAREE. 



On page 236, present volume of the 

 Bee Journal, Mr. ileddon ap- 

 proaches the old subject, " Best bees, 

 etc," with apology and apparent trepi- 

 dation ; but still he approaches the 

 subject and conies prophesying. 



The subject is " unpleasant " just 

 now, but there are " millions in it." 

 "Three-fourths" of the bees sold 

 hereafter will be hap-hazard-hybrids. 

 I only take the liberty to put it in 

 plain English. I mean nothing but 

 good to the cause of apiculture. I 

 write this article not because it is 



Eleasant or " unpleasant " to me, but 

 ecause I wish to raise the standard 

 of systematic breeding rather than to 

 trail it in the dirt, and rather because 

 as a breeder, I do not seek to be re- 

 leased from responsibility as to the 

 character of my queens and bees. 



I protest against the present ten- 

 dency — mercenary tendency — to lower 

 the standard of bee-breeding below 

 the standards adopted and approved 

 by all breeders of domesticated ani- 

 mals. I can see no reason why bee- 

 breeding should not be entitled to as 

 much dignity as a business as other 

 like occupations. 



"Bees for business" may be sug- 

 gestive to some people of the hasty- 

 made dollar, but to me it sounds like 

 a clap-trap, cheap advertisement. Let 

 us suppose that a prominent breeder 

 of farm stock should breed his "breed- 

 ing stock " for " business," ignoring 

 pedigree and purity of blood. Could 

 any one doubt the result of such a 

 course V He would soon tind himself 

 "ignored" as a breeder, and justly 

 too, because the very necessity of the 

 case demands, that, in breeding stock, 

 some distinguishing features must be 

 adopted as a test of the purity of the 

 stock, and as a guarantee of good 

 faith on the part of the breeder. So 

 important is this matter considered 

 by the stock interest in Kentucky, 

 that the Legislative department of the 

 State have enacted statutory laws to 



Eunish fraudulent, and protect honest 

 reeders. 



A prominent stock breeder has sug- 

 gested that the reason why the mule 

 has been a perpetual success is, be- 

 cause he is a " mule," and, therefore, 

 cannot be deteriorated by unlimited 

 crossing by those who are ignorant of 

 the laws of scientiHc breeding. 



It has occured to me that it would 

 be better for the future good of api- 

 culture if the hybrid bee (the word 

 " hybrid " in bee lore means a cross 

 between the Italian and German 

 races) was, in fact, a mule, in which 

 case they might justly and properly 

 be called " bees for business." The 

 first cross between the two races 

 make good business workers, but they 

 are utterly unlit tor breeding stock. 



I insist that every honorable breeder 

 of bees should be able to give a de- 

 scription of his stock sufliciently com- 

 prehensive to enable any one to iden- 

 tify them, and distinguish them from 

 other races and strains of bees. 



The transparent attempts, of late, 

 to render rediculousthecliief features 

 by which the Italian or yellow race of 

 bees is most easily identiiied, is the 

 severest blow of all toscientitic breed- 

 ing. All who have cared to read my 

 articles on the subject of the three- 

 band test, are aware of what my views 

 are concerning that matter, and I 

 need not consume time and space to 

 go over the grounds again ; but 1 do 

 say that there is no such a thing as 

 Italian bees without the yellow bands, 

 and those who sneer at " bands " and 

 " stripes " simply sneer at the Italian 

 bee. I have no controversy with those 

 who prefer native or mixed bees to 

 the Italian, but they should stand to 

 their position. 



Let us look for a moment at this 

 matter of "bands" and "stripes." 

 Most breeders are able to describe the 

 stock sold by them so clearly that 

 they can be identified as a distinct 

 race or variety. Some insure their 

 tested queens to produce workers that 

 will show the three-bands, if filled 

 with honey and placed in a window. 

 Some insure them to show the bands 

 while standing on the combs ; others 

 sell " golden " Italians. If these last 

 know what a golden Italian is, the 

 workers must show the beautiful 

 golden plumage in addition to the 

 bands. Pure Albinos must have the 

 white or silver bands, whicli consist 

 of plumage, in addition to the regular 

 bands. 



Other distinguishing features may 

 be named. My favorite strain of bees 

 may be deseabed as slender in form, 

 the second band conspicuously broad, 

 while the corslet and posterior bands 

 are rather narrow, but finely cut and 

 distinct. As a general rule they have 

 but little plumage on their bodies, and 

 that little is of a light, but not of a 

 golden hue, as is the case with the 

 golden variety. 



I would describe them generally as 

 slender, orange-banded bees. If 

 there are any bees in the country that 

 can beat them as honey-gatherers, I 

 have a reasonable number of dollars 

 which I would like to exchange for a 

 few colonies of them. It will be seen 

 that the several strains of bees de- 

 scribed above may be identified 

 wherever seen by the description 

 given. 



Xow, apply the test to the " busi- 

 ness bees " about which we have 

 heard so much of late. It will be ad- 

 mitted that Mr. Ileddon is good au- 

 thority on the subject, and if there is 

 a man living who can give an intelli- 

 gent description of the " business 

 bee," Mr. II. is the man to do it. 

 Well, I have been reading his articles 

 on " Business get-there bees " in 

 nearly all the bee papers for two years 

 past, and the most that I can make of 

 it is, they are " larger " than some 

 "shorter" bees are, and "darker" 

 than some " lighter " bees are, and 

 may or may not have " stripes." The 

 description is wonderfully accommo- 



dating. No one, I presume, but Mr. 

 ileddon, can indentify them. 

 Christiansburg, Ky. 



For the American Bee JonmaL 



Texas State Bee-Keepers' Convention 



The fifth annual meeting of the 

 State Bee-keepers' Association was 

 held in the apiary of Judge \V. H. 

 Andrews, at McKinney, Texas, on 

 April 17 and 18, 1883. 



After the routine business wa# 

 done, the president addressed tlie 

 meeting upon the subject of " Conven- 

 tions." The address, though well- 

 timed and interesting, but we have 

 tliought best not to send for publica- 

 tion, as we fear we may overtax the 

 space of our valuable Journal. 



Dr. VV. K. Marshall, of Marshall, 

 then read his admirable essay on the 

 "Different races of bees." [As soon 

 as I am furnished a copy I will tor- 

 ward for publication. — Sec] 



The question ' was asked, " Are 

 Cyprians remarkable as workers ¥" to 

 which Dr. Marshall replied : They 

 are swift on the wing, and as indus- 

 trious as any bees he ever handled, 

 and gave as good results. 



In answer to a question as to the 

 temper of the Cyprians, the Doctor 

 said they are cross, very easily an- 

 gered, and when aroused, would sting 

 everylihing on the yard, from chicken 

 to king ; and would not " down," but 

 they were not a ghost. 



Judge Andrews said he could not 

 speak from a satisfactory trial, having 

 handled but 3 colonies, which were 

 enough to do him " the rest of the 

 way." 



It was asked if it is true that their 

 queens are so wonderfully prolific as 

 iney are said to be V 



Dr. Marshall said they are great 

 breeders, and that he had thought 

 they had too much at certain seasons. 

 Judge Andrews said that Dr. Dzier- 

 zon says they breed so late in the fall 

 that in bad honey years they often 

 come out rich in bees, but poor in 

 honey. 



It was asked of Dr. Marshall, what 

 are dark Italians y He replied that 

 he regarded them impure bees, 

 whether home-bred or imported. 



E. H. West, of Tarrant county, 

 asked Judge Andrews if he thought 

 Italian bees swarmed more than 

 blacks V He replied that he could see 

 no difference as to that. 



Are Italians better honey gatherers 

 than the blacks 'f Dr. Marshall said 

 he could not say that they were, but 

 that they possessed some valuable 

 traits peculiar to their race. Judge 

 Andrews said he did not know what 

 those traits are, but that he claimed 

 but two points for the Italian over the 

 blacks and all others ; those are 

 beauty, most exquisite, and amiability; 

 that he could manipulate two colo- 

 nies of Italians to one of the other 

 races ; he says the queens of the other 

 yellow races are not near so beautiful 

 as those of the Italians. 



Judge Andrews was asked if he 

 thought that hybrids are more iras- 

 cible than blacks, as taught in our 

 leading books on bee-culture? And 



