160 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bee has an ear for music. Judging from 

 facts, when such bee-keepers, at the 

 time of swarming, have not fiddles, flutes, 

 and fifes on hand, or Italian organ- 

 grinders, they resort to other music, 

 with old tin pans, cow-bells, shot-guns, 

 etc., believing that this noise will pre- 

 vent swarms from absconding. Oh ! 

 scmcta simpUcitas. 



Nearly all literary men in apiculture, 

 agree, that the poetical view of Virgil, 

 that the honey bee originated from 

 corpses and carcasses, is to be dated 

 back to the dark ages of Egypt, from 

 whence this fabulous idea was carried to 

 the Celts, Greets, Romans and Germans 

 in Europe, even to the tribes of the Indies. 

 Therefore the fabulous idea of the origin 

 of the honey bee, was carried from one 

 part of the earth to the other, and was 

 believed, by many, as late as the begin- 

 ning of the present century. 



The English writer, Holinshed, com- 

 piler of the Chronicles of England, 

 Ireland, and Scotland, in 1807, says : 

 "The hornet, wasp, and bee, and other 

 similar insects, originate, as commonly 

 believed — the former from decomposed 

 horses, the second of decaying apples, 

 pears, etc., and the last named from dead 

 cows and oxen." Swammerdam makes 

 mention of great men in his day, such as 

 Goedsert and DeMai, who advocated that 

 they originated from manure worms. 



From the foregoing statements it can 

 be seen that the honey bee, during all 

 ages of the world, has been an object of 

 study and admiration, and, had science 

 and art, and with it bee-culture of the 

 present age, not lifted the veil, which 

 during ages, had kept this art and 

 industry shrouded in mystery, apiculture 

 would, ere long, have drifted- into the 

 land of dreams, where mystifiers would 

 have found the "corpse and carcass" 

 originated honey bee, in the shape of a 

 phantastic Oriental princess. 



Maiden Rock, Wis. 



Tie iDiDortation of Qneens. 



D. A. JONES. 



This subject is one upon which there 

 will be many different opinions, but I 

 believe that I have given the matter 

 more study, and have experimented more 

 largely with it, than any other bee- 

 keeper of the present day. Perhaps I 

 may also say that I have spent more 

 money on it than I shall ever do again. 



It is true that the importation of 

 queens has done much to stimulate and im- 

 prove apiculture, but I am not convinced 



that even at this date, there are any bet- 

 ter bees to be found in the world, than 

 those we at present have. 



The breeding of bees of superior 

 quality, receives more attention in 

 America (when I say America, of course 

 I include Canada) than elsewhere. The 

 varied climates, the abundance of flora 

 of varied qualities, all tend to assist us 

 in this land, because these play no small 

 part in the production of the races. Of 

 course, without care and skill on the 

 part of the apiarist in his selections for 

 breeding, all these will avail but little. 

 The friendly strife among bee-keepers, to 

 produce bees of the best quality, is sure 

 to have a beneficial effect. 



The crossing of the various races, has 

 been of considerable importance in bring- 

 ing our bees up to the present high 

 standard. I am convinced, after exten- 

 sive experiments, that no pure race of 

 bees is, or has been imported, that have 

 all the good qualities required, and no 

 fixed or pure race possesses the same 

 qualities and dispositions in every re- 

 spect. If their habits and dispositions 

 are thoroughly studied and inquired 

 into, we find them varying after the 

 same manner as the human race. 



As there are no two persons alike, 

 neither are there two colonies alike, and 

 I may add, there are no two queens alike. 

 The fact that they may be of a certain 

 color, or that they may possess a certain 

 number of bands, is no guarantee of 

 their value in dollars and cents. Because 

 a certain number of men are white, it 

 does not follow that they are equally 

 intelligent, industrious and successful, 

 for their dispositions and habits differ. 

 So with the different colonies of bees, 

 although they may all be of the same 

 race. Therefore, because queens may 

 duplicate themselves in color and mark- 

 ings in breeding, this does not show their 

 exact value. If we can have these 

 peculiar markings, and all the other 

 good qualities as well, so much the bet- 

 ter, but let us have, above all things, 

 quality first ; as it is with the colonies I 

 have just spoken of, so it is with the 

 importation of queens. Their appear- 

 ance may be just the same, but the ex- 

 perienced importer, who tests his queens 

 thoroughly, will always find some that 

 are scarcely worth anything, while 

 others produce colonies of great value. 



In-and-in breeding should be prevented 

 as far as possible, and by selecting from 

 our very best colonies we are liable to 

 secure tli(> best results. 



I do not mean to say that no benefit 

 will be derived from the importation of 

 queens, because there are many bee- 



