260 



GLEAMS IXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



liow many common bees there are around him; : 

 if he rears all his qiieens as I have directed ; 

 under artificial swarming andt^UEEN 

 KEAKiXG. he may have the full benefit of the 

 Itiilians so far as honey gathering is con- 

 cerned, just as well as if there were no other I 

 be^s within miles of him. This seems a 

 IKiradox to most beginners, for we have let- ; 

 ters almost daily, asking if it will be of any ; 

 use to purchase Italians, when other bees j 

 .tre kept all around them. If you are keep- , 

 ing bees for the honey they produce, and for • 

 nothing else. I do not know but that you are 

 better off. with other bees in the neighbor- 

 liood. The queens that you rear will be full , 

 bloods like their mother, but after meeting 

 the common drones, their worker progeny 

 will of course be half common and half Ital- 

 ian, generally speaking These are what we 

 call hybrid bees. In looks, they are much 

 like the Italians, only a little darker. Some- 

 times a queen will produce bees all about 

 alike ; that is, tliey will have one or two of 

 the yellow bands, the first and broadest be- 

 ing about as plain and distinct as in the full 

 bloods. Other queens will produce bees 

 variously striped, from a pure black bee. to 

 the finest three banded Italians. I have had 

 lilack queens fertilized by Italian drones, 

 luid these seem to be hybrids just the same 

 as the others; I have not been able to distin- 

 gi'ash any particular difference. 



As honey gatherers, these bees that have 

 tiie blood of the two races are, I believe, tak- 

 ing all things into consideration, fully equal 

 to the full blood Italians. There are times, 

 it is true, when the full bloods seem to be 

 aliead: but I think there are other times and 

 circumstances when the taint of black blood 

 gives an advantage in respect to the amount 

 (rf honey gathered, that will fully make up 

 tiie difference; and I would therefore say, if 

 honey is your object and nothing else, you 

 are just as well off to let your queens meet 

 just such drones as they happen to find. 

 Why then do hybrid queens find slow sale, 

 at about one-fourth of the price of pure Ital- 

 ians? -Just beciiuse of their excitability and 

 vindictive temper. 



Italians, as they generally run, are dis- 

 l)osed to be quiet and still when tlieir hive is 

 opened, and to remain quietly on their combs 

 while they are being handled, showing neith- 

 er vindictiveness nor alarm. Black or com- 

 mon bees, on the contrary, are disposed to 

 be frightened, and either make a general 

 sUunpede, or buzz about ones head and eyes 

 in a way quite unlike the Italians. The Ital- 

 ians do not stand still because thev are afraid 



to make an attack, for, let a robber approach, 

 and they -will sting him to death in a way 9i> 

 cool as to astonish one who has seen only 

 common bees under similar circmnstanoes. 

 A race of bees so prompt to repel intrudei-s 

 of their own kind, it would seem, would also 

 be prompt to repel interference from man; 

 but such is not the case. They do not seem 

 to be at all suspicious when their hive is 

 opened, and a frame lifted out. "Well, these 

 half bloods inherit the boklness of the Itjil- 

 ians, and, at the same time, the vindic- 

 tiveness of the blacks. And to raise the cov- 

 er to a hive of hybrids VN'ithout smoke, dur- 

 ing a scarcity of honey, would be a bold op- 

 eration for even a veteran. Without any 

 buzz or note of alarm, one of these sons of 

 war will quietly dart forth and infiict his 

 sting before you hardly know where it comes 

 from; then another, and another, until, al- 

 most crazed with pain, you drop the cover, 

 and find tliat they are bound to stick to you, 

 not only out into the street, but into the 

 house, or wherever you may go, in a way 

 very unlike either pure race of bees. Some- 

 times, when a hive is opened, they will fix on 

 the leg of one's trowsers so quietly that you 

 hardly dream they are there, until you see 

 them stinging with a vehemence that indi- 

 cates a willingness to throw away a score of 

 lives if they had so many. This bad temper 

 and stinging is not all; if you should desire 

 to introduce a queen or queen cell to these 

 bees, they would be very likely to destroy 

 all you could bring; while a stock of either 

 pure race would accept them without trouble. 

 : During extracting time, or taking off sur- 

 plus honey, you will find little trouble, pro- 

 viding you work while honey is still coming; 

 but woe betide you, if you leave it on tlie 

 hives until the yield is passed. 



In preparing hybrid stocks for wintering, 

 ! I have seen them so cross that it was almost 

 imiKissible to get in sight of the hive, after 

 they ks\d once got roused up, and when I 

 charged' on them suddenly with smoker in 

 excellent trim, they charged on me as sud- 

 ' denly, took possession of the smoker, buzzed 

 down into the tube in their frantic madness, 

 and made me glad to beat a retreat, leaving 

 them in full possession not only of the '••field/' 

 but the -artillery" as well. This was a very 

 powerful colony, and they had been unusu- 

 : ally roused up. Although it was quite cool 

 weather, they hung on the outside of the 

 hive, watching for me, I suppose, until next 

 morning. I then came up behind them with 

 a great volley of smoke, and got them under 



