28 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



because the bees are not inclined to fly 

 through small openings. When a fence is 

 not high enough, four-feet lath, nailed six 

 inches apart to the top of it, with a strip 

 along the top of them to keep them in place, 

 will cause the bees to pass over. — ( )ur author 

 advises using only one style of hive, while 

 his reviewer ( Mr. Pringle ) argues for the use 

 of several kinds. The principal reasons 

 given for having different kinds being *'a 

 scattering of chances, as it were, in the va- 

 ried seasons, and in the contingencies of 

 wintering." This time we are with Mr. 

 Jones. Give us the best hive there is for our 

 particular needs, and in the "scattering of 

 the chances" we will take our chances. — 

 Mr. Jones says that one of his yards is a sol- 

 id bed of sand; and he finds that, while it 

 has its drawbacks in windy weather, the bees 

 are always ahead of the others in breeding 

 up in the spring. He attributes this to the 

 heat being retained by the sand and reflected 

 upon the hives. — Wind-breaks are desirable, 

 and all of the apiaries owned by Mr. Jones 

 are surrounded by board fences eight feet 

 high. — Many writers have advised beginners 

 to buy bees in box hives and transfer them 

 to movable-comb hives. ■ We are glad to see 

 that Mr. Jones is so sensible as to advise 

 against such a course. He says the novice 

 had better buy bees in good movable-comb 

 hives, and let alone the troublesome job of 

 transferring until he has attained some 

 skill, — When writing of black bees Mr. Jones 

 says: " Some apiarists claim to have a race 

 of large, brown bees: but these are, I think, 

 the ordinary bee bred in localities favorably 

 situated to assist the bee-keeper's eff'orts in 

 breeding for selected stock." There is cer- 

 tainly a difference in black bees, and we 

 have secured this larger, browner strain in 

 box hives, from the apiary of some old- 

 fashioned bee-keeper who had made no at- 

 tempts at selection. — From personal obser- 

 vation, and otherwise, Mr. .Jones infers that 

 the bee indigenous to Italy was the black or 

 brown. He believes that the light-colored 

 races originally caihe from Palestine and 

 Syi'ia: that coasting traders in honey and 

 wax brought them to Italy, where the dark 

 natives were, to a great extent, crowded out 

 by the hardy and vigorous Syrians. On the 

 cessation of this trade, in-and-in bi-eeding 

 was practiced for hundreds of years, and 

 this has produced the Italians of to day. — 

 Mr. Jones looks upon the so-called "Albi- 

 nos" as merely bright strains of Italians. — 



It has been urged as an objection against the 

 Italians that they do not work so readily in 

 the supers as do the blacks; but, with our 

 improved methods, says Mr. Jones, this and 

 other objections are overcome. — Speaking of 

 the Syi'ians, he says: "Their former admi- 

 rers have, in a great measure, become dis- 

 gusted with them, on account of their ex- 

 ceedingly irritable disposition. They are 

 great breeders, the queens being wonder- 

 fully prolific, but they frequently consume 

 all their stores in brood rearing." — On the 

 whole, he does not recommend pure Syrians 

 or Cyprians as adapted to the northern part 

 of America. In the South, Texas or Florida, 

 there may be localities to which they adapt- 

 ed, but for more northern localities there are 

 more suitable bees. — As yet, Mr. -Jones has 

 found no pure race possessing all good qual- 

 ities with none of the bad. He has tried 

 crosses of the various races, and is convinced 

 hybrids give better results than pure races. 

 He does not consider the Cyprian a desira- 

 ble bee; but with the Syrio-Italians and the 

 Syrio-Carniolans he has achieved splendid 

 results. He cautions us against deciding 

 that the goal has been reached because a 

 first cross is of extraordinary value, for it 

 seldom duplicates itself. — In crossing vari- 

 eties, he urges that particular attention be 

 given to securing the best of drones, as the 

 male has the most influence on the quality 

 of the progeny. — But few persons, if any, 

 have had greater experience with the differ- 

 ent varieties of bees than has Mr. .Jones, and 

 his views are certainly worthy of attention. 



(To be continued.) 



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