AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



331 



The black tint in the Italians will 

 increase always, while on the other 

 hand the yellow in the Carniolan is as 

 certain to come out more prominently 

 each generation. It is nature in both 

 cases. 



Mr. Robinson has much to say in 

 praise of some of those parties who sent 

 out the first Italian queens. I paid a 

 big price to some of the men mentioned for 

 pure Italian queens, but not one, how- 

 ever, was pure — and from no high-priced 

 queen purchased could I rear more than 

 25 percent, of yellow queens. 



I do not claim that these men were 

 dishonest — I know they were not. They 

 sent out the best queens that could be 

 produced, and which at that time were 

 worth the big money paid for them, 

 even though the queens were impure. 



Of the golden Carniolans let me say 

 one word further. Up to date I have 

 sent out about 500 golden Carniolan 

 queens, and not one word has been said 

 against them, while on the other hand I 

 have heard a good deal in their praise. 

 One of the oldest queen breeders in the 

 country, to whom I sent a golden Car- 

 niolan queen, has this to say of the new 

 strain of bees : 



" The golden Carniolan queen came to 

 hand promptly, and was safely intro- 

 duced. I am well pleased with her ; 

 have begun breeding from her to re- 

 queen my apiary. I have reared and 

 sold many thousand Italian, Cyprian 

 and Holy-Land queens,- but never had 

 one please me better than the golden 

 Carniolan queen received of you. 



"E. T. Flanagan. 



"Belleville, Ills." 



I have hundreds of such testimonials. 

 Now, if these bees give such satisfac- 

 tion, where does the humbuggery come 

 in ? If yellow Carniolans are hybrids, 

 why is it that 95 per cent, of the young 

 queens are duplicates of their mother ? 

 There is in my apiary a large number of 

 queens that produce the most beautiful 

 queens and bees that ever graced an 

 apiary. These bees are but four gen- 

 erations from solid black or gray Car- 

 niolans. Each succeeding generation 

 produces more beautiful and yellow 

 queens, drones and worker bees. 



One word more and I have done. Has 

 Mr. Robinson discussed this matter in 

 an impartial manner, or in a spirit of 

 kindness, and for the good of all ? Here 

 let me ask Mr. R. how much experience 

 he has had with the Carniolans ? Has 

 he ever had any ? 



Has he not called the producers of the 

 golden Carniolans humbugs, without 

 presenting one particle of evidence to 

 back his wild statements? I will give 

 Mr. R. a chance to make good his claim, 

 if he thinks it can be done. 



I will place in the hands of the editor 

 of the Bee Jouenal $100 to be paid 

 for a Carniolan queen bee that I or any 

 competent queen breeder cannot produce 

 the most beautiful golden bees from, 

 and no other bees shall be used but those 

 from the pure Carniolan queen selected. 

 I am willing that Mr. Frank Benton 

 shall select the queen, or get some one 

 to do so for him, and that Mr. Newman, 

 A. I. Root and myself shall select the 

 person to conduct the rearing of the 

 queens. 



If yellow bees cannot be produced by 

 the method I will give, then I am to pay 

 the $100, but if the yellow bees and 

 queens are produced, then I am to pay 

 nothing. 



These bees may be reared on an 

 island in the middle of the ocean for all 

 that I care. Rear them as many miles 

 from all other bees as will insure pure 

 mating, so that no one can say that any 

 of the queens were mated to a yellow 

 drone. 



I have made the above plain state- 

 ments, and hope all the readers will find 

 therein sufficient evidence to convince 

 them that there is no humbuggery about 

 the golden Carniolan bees. 



Now, I have taken a great deal of 

 pains to produce this strain of golden 

 Carniolan bees. I consider it a progres- 

 sive step, and that by the development 

 of this most beautiful, quiet strain of 

 bees, I have done for the apicultural 

 world a good thing. These bees possess 

 all the good qualities of the Italians and 

 gray Carniolans, and are superior in all 

 respects to any race or strain of bees in 

 the world, unless it be the Funics, of 

 which we know but little. 



In conclusion, let me say that any one 

 who spends his time and money to 

 benefit his fellow man, is not very well 

 paid if he is to be considered and called 

 a humbug and swindler. It is poor 

 encouragement for any one to undertake 

 the improvement of the races of bees, or 

 to take any step in advance of the old 

 methods so long in use. I do not pro- 

 pose to remain in the old ruts of bee- 

 keeping, if there is a chance to get out 

 of them. That I have made an effort 

 to advance apiculture cannot be denied 

 by any bee-keeper who has a knowledge 

 of my history. 



I trust no young bee-keeper will be 

 deterred from making an attempt to 



