TS7 



GEEANINGS TX BEE CULTURE. 



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HOW TO TELL HYBRIDS FROM PURE ITALIANS. 



very much. This is the explanation of the 

 glossy blackness of robbers often seen dodg- 

 ing about the hives. Perhaps squeezing 

 througli small crevices, has tlnis worn off 

 f le down, or it may be that pushing through 

 dens3 masses of bees has something to do 

 with it, for we often see such shiny black 

 bees in great numbers, in stocks that have 

 been nearly suffocated by being confined to 

 their hives, in shipping, or at other times. 



These bands of down differ in shades of 

 color, many times, and this is the case .with 

 the common bee, as well as with the Italian. 



Under the microscope, the bands are sim- 

 ply fine soft hair, or fur perhaps, and it is 

 principally what gives the light colored Ital- 

 ians tli'jir handsome appearance. You have, 

 perhaps, ull noticed the progeny of some par- 

 ticular queen when they first came out to 

 play, and pronounced them the handsomest 

 bees you ever saw ; but a few months after, 

 they would be no better looking than the 

 rest of your bees. This is simply because 

 they ha'l worn off their handsome plumage, 

 in the "Stem realities" of hard work in the 

 fields. Occasionally, you will find a queen 

 whose Ijees have bands nearly white in- 

 stead of yellow, and this is what has led to 

 the so called Albino bees. When the plu- 

 mage is gone, they are just like other Ital- 

 ians. Xow, these bands of down, have noth- 

 ing to do with the yellow bands that are 

 characteristic of the Italians, for after tliis 

 has worn off, the yellow bands, are much 

 plainer than before. A,B,C, are the yellow 

 bands, of which we have heard so much, 

 and they are neither down, ])lumage, nor 

 anything of that sort, as yoii will see by tak- 

 ing a careful look at an Italian on the" Avin- 

 ddw. The scale or horny substance of which 

 the body is composed, is yellow, and almost 

 transparent, not black and opaque, as are 

 the rings of tlie common l)ee, or the same 

 insect, lower down. 



The first yellow band A, is right down next 

 the waist; now look carefully. It is very 



plain, when you once know what to look for, 

 and no child need ever be mistaken about it. 



At the lower edge, is the first black band ; 

 this, often, is only a thin sharp streak of black. 



The second, B, is the plainest of all the 

 yellow bands, and can usually be seen in 

 the very poorest hybrids. The first 

 band of down, is seen where the black and 

 yellow join, but it is so faint, you will hardly 

 notice it in some specimens. 



We have f^t the lower edge of the scale as 

 before, a narrow line of black; when the 

 down wears off, this shows nearly as broad 

 as the yellow band. 



iSTow we come onto disputed ground, for 

 the third band C, is the one about which 

 there is so much controversy. Some con- 

 tend that a pure Italian should show it 

 whether he is filled with honey or not ; and 

 others, among whom was our friend (^uinby, 

 that a part of the bees would show it only 

 when filled with hoir^v. Now there are, 

 without doubt, hives of bcos that show this 

 third band at all times, but it is pretty cer- 

 tain, that the igreater part of the bees of 

 Italy, do not. The conclusion, then, is that 

 the bees of Italy, are not ])ure. Now I think 

 we should be careful about going to extremes 

 in these matters, for it is honey, and not yel- 

 low bands, that is the vital point. The bees 

 from Italy, are better honey gaiherers etc., 

 than ours are, and if we import from Italy, 

 I think we should be satisfied, to get such as 

 they have, especially so far as tlie markings 

 are concerned. My advice is just this ; if 

 you are undecided in regard to a queen, get 

 some of the bees that you are sure were 

 hatched in her hive, and feed them all the 

 honey they can take ; now put them on a 

 window, and if the band C, is not plainly 

 visible, call them hybrids. I advise yoii to 

 put them on the window, because you may 

 mistake the band of down which is often 

 very plain and yellow, for the permanent 

 yellow band, C. ^ow, the bees from Italy, 

 are not all alike, and the yellow bands have 



