1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



151 



and were shown by Mr. Parsons to Mr. Langstroth, on the 

 latter's first arrival at Mr. Parsons' home in the spring of 

 1860. See what Mr. L. says on that point in his article in 

 the American Bee Journal, page 82, 1881. 



5. Mr. Langstroth fixes the date of his visit to Mr. Parsons' apiary 

 in the spring ot 1856, whereas no Italian bees were Imported direct 

 from Italy until 1860. 



Mr. E. knows, as well as any one can know, that Mr. 

 Langstroth did not make said visit until the spring of ISfiO, 

 and that the year, as printed, is simply a typographical error. 

 What Mr. R.'s purpose can be for misrepresenting this fact 

 can perhaps be best explained by himself. And are you sure, 

 Mr. R., that no bees were imported direct from Italy, through 

 Parsons, until 1860? It seems that you are not aware of the 

 fact that those ten (10) colonies of Italian bees, in hollow 

 logs, left Genoa, Italy, for America, in the fall of 1859, and 

 that they were landed in New York prior to 1860. There 

 must be some history about Italian bees that you have not 

 heard of before. 



6. Mr. Langstroth says there were some Italian bees consigned to 

 Mr. Mahan In the shipment that was landed in New York April 19, 

 1860, but this cannot be true. 



Mr. Langstroth says the Italian bees that were landed in 

 New York April 19, 1860, were in small boxes, and that they 

 were in three separate packages; that one package was con- 

 signed to the United States government, one to Mr. Mahan, 

 and one to Mr. Parsons. As Mr. Langstroth was present, and 

 Mr. Robinson was not there at all, and for other good and 

 sufficient reasons, I rather think we had better give Mr. L. 

 credit for stating the truth about this matter. 



7. Mr. Parsons had only two Italian queens in the spring of 1860. 

 In the spring of 1861 Mr. P. advertised In the American Bee Jomnal 

 that he would mail a circular In regard to the Italian bee to all who 

 applied with stamp, in which would be found testimonials as to their 

 superiority over the black variety from Messrs. Langstroth, KirtLind, 

 Brackett and Baldridge, ■' when the facts were that neither man had 

 an opportunity to see a working colony of Italian bees." 



Now the foregoing seems to have given this " Italian bee 

 historian" a deal of trouble, and he evidently thinks he has 

 now not only cast reflection on Messrs. Langstroth, Kirtland, 

 Brackett and Parsons, but also upon the writer— the party 

 who then lived in the " far West." Now the fact is, all the 

 parties whose names are given, had more or less Italian bees 

 in 1860, and from the Parsons' importation, too. I got Ital- 

 ian queens as early as June, 1860, from Mr. Parsons, and 

 when I sent in my report, Oct. 25, 1860, I had eleven (11) 

 colonies of Italian bees. In fact on that date I had two (2) 

 colonies, as my report shows, that had no native bees among 

 them. I also know that the other parties named had enough 

 Italian bees when they made their reports to Mr. Parsons to 

 state certain facts about them. We stated nothing that any 

 one should be ashamed of. I have still in my possession one 

 of the circulars to which Mr. R. refers, but I have no space 

 here to quote from it what any one of us said about our ex- 

 perience with the Italian bees. But I have said enough to 

 show that Mr. R. makes a misstatement, malicious or other- 

 wise, when he asserts that none of us had ever seen " a work- 

 ing colony of Italian bees."" And, as for my being a resident 

 of the "far West," Mr. R. knows better. He knows very 

 well, unless his memory has betrayed him, that in 1860 I was 

 a resident of western New York, and that my postofifice ad- 

 dress was Middleport, Niagara county. I will also add that 

 the Parsons' circular referred to is dated Jan. 1, 1861, and 

 not in the spring of that year. 



8. Prof. Rlley says on page 208. American Bee Journal, 1893. that 

 the Italian bees brought by Mr. Hermann for the United States, and 

 as agent for S. B. Parsons, arrived in May, 1860, "and he quoted from 

 the government records." 



Prof. Riley is a man who would not misrepresent a his- 

 torical fact knowingly. I do not think he got his data " from 

 the government records," Mr. R.'s statement to the contrary 

 notwithstanding. I am advised that his data were supplied 

 him by another party who was evidently misled in regard to 

 the matter. There is no record anywhere, that is reliable, to 

 show that there were ever any Italian bees, consigned to the 

 United States from Italy, that landed in New Y'ork in May, 

 1860. 



9. Mr. Langstroth found on his arrival at Mr. Parsons' apiary, in 

 the spring of 1860, one Italian queen alive in a hollow log. After- 

 wards, April 19, 1860, Mr. L. found another Italian queen alive in a 

 cigar-box. In the package consigned to Mr. Parsons from Italj', and he 

 treats the consignments as one shipment. 



Oh, no ! Mr. L. does nothing of the kind. This is simply 



nothing more nor less than one of those "unreliable mis- 

 statements." 



To conclude: It is now pretty generally admitted that 

 Mr. Langstroth is the peer of any bee-keeper living, whether 

 in Europe or America, and the fact may yet dawn upon the 

 bee-keeping world that Mr. Parsons, who has been so mali- 

 ciously misrepresented by Mr. Robinson, is the peer of Mr. 

 Langstroth. M. M. Baldridge. 



St. Charles, 111. 



CONDUCTED BY 



AfRS. JENNIE A^TCHLEY, BBEVILLE. TEX. 



Report of the Southwest Texas Bee-Convention. 



BY F. A. LOCKHAET, SEC. 



(Continued from page 134.) 



THE MOST PROFITABLE RACE OF BEES. 



Question No. 16. — Which is the most profitable race of 

 bees to keep ? 



Mr. Graham — Italians. 



Mr. Lockhart — For me and my location, Carniolans. 

 Some find fault because they can't find the queens readily. I 

 have 50 colonies of 5-banded bees, and I can find a Carniolan 

 queen as easily as the 5-banded. 



Mr. Theilmann — I prefer Italians. 



Dr. Marshall — I prefer Italians. 



Mr. Bankston — I prefer the 5-bauded Italians. I have 

 tried blacks, 3-banded, and most other races, and the 5- 

 banded are my bees. 



Mrs. Atchley — I believe the Italian bee will go farther 

 for honey, and gather it from deeper flowers, than any other 

 race of bees. It has been said that some one made a test by 

 filling a tumbler full of honey and stretching a piece of cheese 

 cloth over it, and the Italian bee reached honey the longest. 

 I think it is going to be a close race the next few years be- 

 tween Carniolans and the 3 and 5 banded Italians. 



Mr. Theilmann — I found bees working on red clover, and 

 as some say Italian bees can gather honey from red clover 

 while blacks cannot, I will say that I did not see any differ- 

 ence. But I think Italians will go farther, and hold out 

 longer than the black bees. All in all, I should say Italians 

 are the most profitable bees to keep. 



Mr. Flornoy — If it be two races only that is meant in this 

 question — blacks and Italians — I will say that I would not 

 give one Italian colony for three of black bees. 



Mr. Graham — When we look at this question from a 

 money stand-point, I think there is no doubt but Italians are 

 ahead of blacks, although it is said that black bees cap their 

 honey whiter than Italians. But Italians gather more honey. 



Mr. Lord — I think in a test case we should compare ex- 

 tracted honey to see if there is any difiference in the honey, as 

 the Italian bees do place the capping right on the honey, 

 giving the comb somewhat the color of the honey ; but this 

 alone should not be a serious objection, because the Italians 

 are only trying to give good measure, while the blacks are a 

 little short, and when a customer is schooled in this it will 

 make no difference. I say Italians. 



Mr. Victor — I favor Italian bees first, last, and all the 

 time. 



Mr. Lockhart — This is the point I have in favor of Car- 

 niolan bees: They will gather as much as Italians, and cap 

 it as white as Blacks. I will say Carniolans. 



WHAT ABOUT PATENTED HIVES? 



Question No. 17. — Are there any patents on hives to-day 

 that cover any essential points in the best method of manag- 

 ing bees or getting more honey ? 



Mr. Graham — 1 believe it is now pretty generally under- 

 stood by bee-keepers that all patent hives are humbugs. 



Dr. Marshall — I think the main thing to do is, to do away 

 with everything that don't pay, whether patented or not. 



Willie Atchley — While we are talking about patent hives, 

 I wish to relate a little incident that occurred while Mr. 

 Hanna and I were out hauling bees some tinie ago. We met a 

 patent hive man, and I began to question him. He told me he 

 was getting a barrel of letters from A. I. Root, wanting to 

 buy his patent, etc., and very soon I began to wind him up on 



