1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



d49 



with leather-colored bands. These had great individuality of 

 character and left their impress in my apiary for some gener- 

 ations. The Alley stock was shorter lived. 



I commenced to import the most of my breeding stock 

 direct from Italian breeders ; and since then I have imported 

 hundreds of queens, and spared no expense nor pains to breed 

 up to the greatest perfection. 



By a careful and persistent effort to breed from light- 

 colored queens and yellow drones, I gradually bred out the 

 dark, and in a few years I had a bright-yellow banded bee, 

 many of which showed four and five bands. But as I pro- 

 gressed in the development of yellow bands I found I had 

 approached a point where the capacity for honey-gathering 

 diminished, while the leather-colored queens and workers, like 

 the Ilamblin strain, were my best honey-gatherers. 



In breeding for beauty, the honey-gathering qualities are 

 too prone to be ignored. These qualities require muscular 

 development — power of wing and energy. It is a law gov- 

 erning animal culture that the highest attainments can only 

 be secured at the expense of other qualities. In the human 

 species the greatest intellectuality is attained at the expense 

 of muscular development and at a diminution of fecundity. 

 Hence, unless the physical qualities required to enable the 

 bees to be good foragers be kept in view in breeding, it is very 

 easy to produce an enervated strain. 



Excessive swarming is the bane of the honey-producer, 

 and such traits should form no part of the bee for business. 

 Cvprians and Syrians are notorious swarmers, and this trait 

 will crop out in their crosses with other varieties for genera- 

 tions. But I want no non-swarming variety of Apis mellifira, 

 if honey is any object. God has implanted the propensity in 

 the bee as a collateral means of perpetuating the species. It 

 carries with it a desire to provide, accumulate, and hoard up 

 for a time of want. 



I have already stated that a yellow bee can be developed 

 from pure Italians by a system of careful breeding. It can be 

 more quickly accomplished by the introduction of Cyprian 

 blood. Such crosses are bright and beautiful, and the yellow 

 shows to great perfection. Many of them have a bright yellow 

 crescent-shaped spot or shield on top of their thorax between 

 the wings. But this mark is often found on well-bred Italians. 

 The best test of Cyprian blood is their behavior when the 

 hive is opened. They are quick to resent an insult, and when 

 smoke is applied to them, they dance around, turn one end 

 and then the other, and dare the smoke ! They will only 

 retreat when the smoke approaches fire. When panic-stricken, 

 they will desert their combs and take to the sides of the hive. 



I do not consider the imported queens from Italy, at 

 present, any better than our home-bred ones. They average 

 much lighter in color than those received years ago. During 

 the furor for Cyprians in this country, they were also intro- 

 duced into Italy and no doubt have crossed with their bees. 

 For more information in regard to the varieties of the honey- 

 bee, I refer the reader to an essay of mine on " The Geograph- 

 ical Distribution of the Honey-Bee," read at the North Amer- 

 ican Bee-Keepers' convention at Lexington, Ky., in 1881, and 

 published in the November number of the American Bee 

 Journal for the same year. 



I have not penned the above with any desire to champion 

 any of the parties concerned in the Atchley-Quigley-Doolittle 

 controversy. We all have our ideal queen standard. Tastes 

 differ. The interest of the honey-producer and the queen- 

 breeder should be mutual. In the matter of queens, merit 

 should rule, but it often unfortunately falls to the rear — slips 

 out of the dictionary — and a conglomerate mass of brag, gas 

 and cheek takes its place. Augusta, Ga. 



Bee-Literature According to the Heddou Idea. 



BT .J. W. HOFFMAN. 



Mr. Editor: — Being a journalist of many years' experi- 

 ence, a constant and attentive reader of your valuable journal, 

 and a " bee-crank," as the saying goes, I became peculiarly 

 interested in the essay of Mr. James Heddon, on " Apicultural 

 Literature," read before the Michigan State convention of 

 bee-keepers, and published on page 99. 



After reading Mr. Heddon's effusion through twice, very 

 carefully, I failed to perceive why that topic should have been 

 assigned to him for discussion. If for his wisdom and literary 

 accomplishments, it certainly was a mistake, as he has allowed 

 his evident love for invectives and innuendo to get the better 

 of his judgment, while his bombastic and unpolished style is 

 anything but pleasing. 



If the topic was assigned to him on account of his knowl- 

 edge and experience as one of the " spiual column of our busi- 

 ness," as he is pleased to "dub" the honey-producers, and 



consequently his supposed ability to tell a bee-editor how to 

 edit a bee-journal, and thus be the means of lifting the apicul- 

 tural literature from the quagmire of degeneracy, and placing 

 it among the journals of a realm where only royal Jelly is 

 served — then I am too dull, for I cannot see where the gentle- 

 man has shown the ability to make even an intelligent sug- 

 gestion. He has not pointed out clearly and distinctively in 

 what particular essential apicultural literature is degen- 

 erated or deficient, and he has certainly indicated no well- 

 defined reform or policy through which it could possibly be 

 brought to a higher standard. To sum it all up, I regard the 

 essay as a mass of uncalled-for and intemperate criticism, out 

 of which may be sifted a few vague hints, which seem more 

 like stabs atsome one else, over the editor's shoulder, than as 

 a means of improving bee-literature. 



I am not acquainted with Mr. Heddon, but I take it for 

 granted that he is a gentleman who is respected in the com- 

 munity where he resides, and by those with whom he asso- 

 ciates, and anything I say in this connection must not be con- 

 sidered as a personal reflection. Permit me to say, however, 

 that if I read him correctly, he is one of those characters who 

 love to chuckle over what they have written — who delight to 

 tease the worm to see it wriggle and squirm, but without 

 meaning any harm. If he ever mounts the rostrum, his arms 

 are more eloquent than his tongue. 



Now, Mr. Ediior, let me tell you how to improve your 

 journal according to the Heddon idea: 



1st. In order to be thoroughly competent to write and 

 select articles on apicultural subjects, you must at once be- 

 come one of the "spinal column of our business," i. e., a bee- 

 keeper or honey-producer. Put in your order at once for at 

 least 1,000 queens, and 4,000 pounds of bees, including all 

 the latest styles in color and number of bands, and every 

 known race. You must not buy any hives, frames, sections, 

 foundation or other supplies, as that would help some supply 

 dealer, but you must make them yourself — buy the raw ma- 

 terial, lumber, etc., and make them by hand ; this will give 

 you practice — and you must become thoroughly practical, in 

 order to be able to edit a bee-paper. 



You must also have a laboratory equipped with all the 

 latest appliances for making chemical and microscopical tests; 

 and a library containing every known work on the subject of 

 Apiculture, and you must read nothing else — that must be 

 your only intellectual food; and be sure to have a copy of 

 " Heddon's Esci.ys " constantly on your desk. Your physical 

 diet must also be caiefully regulated in the interest of apicul- 

 ture — eat honey, plenty of U, eat it three times each day, and 

 every day in the year; and bees, too, worker-bees and drones 

 (in season) on week days, and a queen or two for Sunday 

 dinner. This will stimulate the market, and help out the 

 "spinal column of our business." 



You must be among your bees, in the laborct'^r". the 

 library, the workshop, all day and every day, observing, e^ 

 perimenting, making tests, reading up, or making hives, etc. 

 Your heavy articles you must only attempt to write by mid- 

 night oil, at which time you will be fully loaded with bee- 

 knowledge, and all will be still within and without, save per- 

 chance the screeching of the owl. 



If you have been in the habit of "sticking" a few type to 

 help make both ends meet, or going out among business men 

 to solicit an " ad.," or to attend to any other business matter, 

 stop it ! this is menial. Your position is higher; you must 

 only read, write, think, and talk about bees and honey — all 

 the other drudgery you must leave to hired help. Never mind 

 the cost. 



2nd. Be very careful about publishing any communica- 

 tions or articles from other bee-men. First get their pedigree, 

 and no matter how extensive and varied their observation and 

 study into the mysteries of apiculture, and hence no matter 

 how valuable and interesting their communcations might be, 

 if they are not actually a part of the " spinal column of our 

 business," bar them out ! Queen-breeders, experimenters and 

 inventors of new appliances must absolutely have no chance 

 to say a word through your columns — they are the droJies of 

 apiculture ! 



Every article that you do publish, you must comment 

 on copiously, criticise mercilessly, both as to style of composi- 

 tion and as to the views or facts stated ; and if your corres- 

 pondent happens to be deficient in grammar or spelling, don't 

 revise, but take off your gloves, and your shirt, if necessary, 

 and roast him to a turn ! Your comments should appear in 

 the body of the article immediately following the paragraph 

 to which they refer, and always in bold-face or italics, so 

 they will stand out in marked contrast to the scribbling of 

 your correspondent ; and this, you know, would also produce 

 a grand typographical effect — chromatic printing might be still 

 more awe-inspiring. Your comments must be written in a 



