374 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUIIE. 



July 



in alphabetical order, and no name appears 

 twice, tlie task and cost of gettinj? it up is 

 enormous. I have sold some of the sheets 

 for 50 cents per 1000 names ; but unless I 

 was satisfied they were wanted for advertis- 

 ing good and honest goods, or for sending 

 out circulars that were fit to be put into 

 the hands of the children of our land, they 

 could not be had at any price. The list has 

 cost me, in cash paid out for advertising, and 

 for the labor of clerks, perhaps over $2000. 

 Do you think I ought to give them away V 

 Do you think anybody could go to your of- 

 fice and copy off the names for much less 

 than 50 cents per 1000, friend H. ? 



I should not have brought this matter in 

 here as I have, did it not seem as if some 

 explanation was demanded ; and, come to 

 think of it, I wonder if we are not all a little 

 out of order. I think we will lay most of 

 the blame on friend Pond, for writing in re- 

 gard to the matter of overstocking in a way 

 that I can not but feel was hardly the thing 

 toward friend lleddon, even if he did try to 

 put it kindly. Shall we not now drop the 

 matter right where it is V 



D. A. JONES IN REGARD TO THE PU- 

 RITY OF ITALIAN REES. 



ARE THEY A HYBRID RACE? 



S INCLOSE an item, clipped from the Montr.eai 

 Wceldii Witness, written by our esteemed 

 " " friend, D. A. Jones, of Beeton. It so entirely 

 agrees with the notions that I have had, that I 

 would like you to publish it. Ila Micheneb. 



Low Banks, Ont,, Canada, June 15, 1883. 



ITALIAN BEES. 



Sir-- I writv yoii ooiu'cniiiis- thi' work (jf Itnlian licrs, a snli- 

 ject whii'li npiiMiciitIv admits ol' a viuict.v nf opinions. Last 

 Mimnii'i- I lioiii,'ht a dollai- Italian c|\iccn from .a rolialiU' lirta'd- 

 er, which 1 safel.y introdiu-cd, ainl wliitdi in dnc tinu- popnlati-d 

 the colony with liccs. Not bfinK at all aciin.iintcd with this 

 v.iriety of our " little pets," and not hcinpr oeitain of tludr pu- 

 rity, I am at a loss as to what to desitfiiato them. 1 iinnnihir 

 reading- an article in a hoc paper, to the effect tliat Italians as 

 a rule show the three hands only when expanded with honev; 

 and again in l']-of. Cook's new :\ian\i:\l I reail they are always 

 visible. The i)royenv of niv unei^n show hut two hands, when 

 in a normal condition, .iltlioujih the thi]-d is pri'sciit, but only 

 showing' itself wlicn the .ibdomcii is clon^c.-itcd. Tlicy also ap 

 pear to he more vindicti\e than Ihcir hlack m-ighbois, whiidi 

 would strengthen tlie opinion that they ,\ie hybrids. (}r 

 course, 1 will he able to discern as soon as drones show them- 

 selves, as from snch (po'eiis, I believe, they are always iiure. 

 Thinking-, however, a lull e.xiil.anation k>( tlie nnitter from one 

 of your experience could not fail to he instructive to some 

 among the many readers of the Witness, I take the liberty of 

 thus addressing you. J. Borl.\se Warren. 



tiamebridge, Ont. 



You win not be able to judge of their purity by the 

 drones, as queens bred from pure mothers, and 

 mated with drones of another race, show piirednmes 

 while (lie worhrrs arc hyhrid:i. Italians have usually 

 been considered a pure race by many, but latterly 

 there appears to be little ground for Any other belief 

 than thiit they are all hybrids: that thev nre only a 

 cross of the Holy-Lauds and bliic-ks in Italy, and 

 their breedings. Most of the blnck blood hiis been 

 bred out by the constant breeding of hundreds of 

 years: and the changes in food, climate, and sur- 

 roundings, for this long period, has tended some- 

 what to change, and to a certain extent form a dis- 

 tinct race of bees called Italians. I, previous to my 

 travels in iMirope, Asin, and Africa, when searching 

 for new andtfhoice races of bees, found that what 

 were called "pure" Italians varied very much; that 

 they were not inclined to duplicate themselves; 

 that by selecting the dark strain, and following that 

 course of breeding, I could produce black bees; or 

 by selecting the lighter, I could breed lighter and 

 brighter, until they were ,iust as handsome as Holy- 

 Lands. It was always a mystery to me how a pure 

 Itahan, imported from Italy, could breed such a 

 variety of bees; but after having traveled, and in- 

 vestigated the matter, I had no difficulty in arriving 

 at a conclusion, I found blacks and hybrids in 



France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and also la 

 parts of Italy. I also found in the Sicilian Islands 

 black bees, and some slightly crossed with Italians, 

 but not as black as the German or French, as the 

 Sicilian seemed to have more and longer gray hairs 

 on the abdomen. Now, from Mount ^Etna all the 

 way around the Eastern coast to Catania, the north- 

 east point next to Italy, for many miles the channel 

 is so narrow that bees in swarming can and do 

 cross from Italy to Sicily, and vice versa,. Just across 

 the Adriatic Sea, along the Dalmatian coast, and on 

 both sides of the Dalmatian coast, and on both sides 

 of the Dalmatian range of mountains, there are the 

 finest, and, I believe, the best blacks in the world. 

 All these facts go to show that they ( the so-called 

 Italians) have been imported from Asia long ago. 

 and the evidence is made still stronger when it is 

 remembered that the trade from Palestine and 

 Cyprus passed up through the Grecian archipelago, 

 crossing the Adriatic Sea to Italy, and that honey 

 and wax were two of the principal articles of com- 

 merce. No doubt, the finer and better bees from 

 Palestine and Syria found their way into Italy in 

 large numbers. It would seem hard to state just 

 what we should consider pure; perhaps the three 

 gold bands will be found the best test in the matter. 



I am aware that friend Jones does not 

 agree with several of the friends who have 

 visited Italy, in regard to finding black bees 

 there; but "as his investigations were mnch 

 more extensive than any other, very likely 

 he is right. I confess I can not quite see, 

 though, why the same does not apply to the 

 Cyprians and Holy-Lands as well. In 

 regard to color, this can be changed either 

 one way or the other, with almost all of the 

 animal kingdom, by careful selection in 

 breeding. Providing we get the honey, 

 what does it matter what we call them ? In 

 connection with this subject, I believe that 

 all agree that crossing tlie Iloly-Ijands with 

 the Italians always produces gentler bees, 

 while crossing blacks with Italians has 

 exactly the reverse effect. 



In speaking of bees crossing the channel, 

 friend Jones strikes on the question before 

 us now, in regard to how far a swarm of 

 bees may lly ; and as we found that bees fly 

 much further over a sheet of water than 

 over land, doubtless swarms would do the 

 same. If they " lit out " to go across, they 

 would have to cross or die, and so they might 

 lly across, where the channel was as much 

 as ten miles ; and we would n;iturally sup- 

 pose that after-swarms, led by giddy young 

 queens, would be the ones to niake the " long 

 stretches." 



SEASONARLE HINTS, ETC. 



DRONE OR WORIvER COMB FOR SECTIONS. 



HAVE used drone and worker fdn. for sections; 

 think I shall use only worker hereafter; drone 

 willdowhen honey iscoming in plentifully; but 

 in a poor season, when but little honey is stored in 

 the sections, the queen is almost sure to laj- in those 

 drone combs, even if you use a separator; especially 

 is this the case when there is no drone comb in the 

 brood-chamber. I always like to have at least some 

 drone comb in the brood-charabor, as they are better 

 satisfied than if there is none. 



SWARMING WITH CLIPPED QUEEN. 



Will swarms return when three or four unite and 

 have no queen among them? Yesterday four swarms 

 came out about the same time, imiting and cluster- 

 ing on a peach-tree, which I had to prop up to keep 

 it from breaking. Well, now, what was to be done? 

 I removed the parent hives, setting others in their 



