ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS- ASSOCIATION 



143 



come back into line again I find there 

 has not been very much improvement, 

 if any, in the Italian bee brought to 

 this country. The bees that I got in 

 an early day, I got some from Mr. 

 Arthur Gray, of Butler County, Ohio, 

 and some from Mr. Langstroth. I got 

 one queen from Mr. Langstroth that 

 duplicated herself oftener than any I 

 ever reared, and yet after rearing about 

 100 queens one hatched out that was 

 the blackest insect I ever saw in my 

 life, of any kind, showing that there 

 was some foreign blood. There came 

 the question, then, whether there was a 

 distinct race of bees that were Italian; 

 whether they were pure and distinct, 

 not amalgamated with any other race 

 of bees, and while this question was up, 

 and I was studying about it, and I don't 

 know but writing about it, I met Mr. 

 Langstroth in Cincinnati and we had a 

 talk on the subject. I told Mr. Lang- 

 stroth about this queen I purchased, and 

 having so many duplicates — about lOO — 

 and then having an insect as black as 

 any I ever saw, and that I had somt 

 doubts as to there being a distinct Italian 

 bee, whether they are a distinct race. 

 He said, "1 know they are not, but 

 what their make-up consists of I can 

 not tell." I have done a good deal of 

 investigating for many years, and I do 

 not believe by importing the various 

 types of bees, Cyprians and Caucasians 

 and different breeds, that we are going 

 to improve our bees very rapidly. I 

 said down in San Antonio, to Dr. 

 Phillips that I was opposed to the Gov- 

 ernment sending out Caucasian queens 

 to breeders unless they would pledge 

 them to breed I2 to IS miles from other 

 apiaries, so that amalgamation would 

 be impossible. Keep them separate and 

 see if thev are reallv worthy to be in- 

 troduced in the United States, or not. 

 The Italian bees as we had them in 

 their highest degree of purity along in 

 the '6o's were undoubtedly an improve- 

 ment on the common black bee. I never 

 had a colony of Italian bees destroyed 

 by the moth-miller. They were better- 

 natured. Then I handled my bees many 

 and many a time without any protec- 

 tion whatever, either on my hands or 

 over my face. I can't do it in Kansas 

 with the bees I have now ; only occasion- 

 ally when there is quite a flow of honey 

 the bees are better-natured. We are all 

 better-natured when we have a full 

 stomach, and the bees are pretty good- 



natured at a time like that. You can 

 open up a colony of hybrids — not Cy- 

 prians, they do not ask any odds for 

 a flight at any time, but they are good- 

 natured at a time like that, but at any 

 other time I won't venture. Sometimes 

 they appear to be as innocent and harm- 

 less as flies, and at other times they 

 will come out at me, thousands of them. 

 The reason I put in that question was 

 to argue that very point, and to show 

 what amalgamation is doing for us, and 

 that from lo to i.^ miles is as close as 

 I would advise their being bred, the 

 different races of bees. 



Taking Bees out in Spring. 



"How soon in the spring should bees 

 be taken from the repository?" 



Dr. Miller — Take them out when the 

 soft maple is in bloom, unless the wea- 

 ther is such that you feel pretty sure 

 you will have cold weather after that; 

 but not earlier than that. 



Mr. Moore — ^When the oak leaf is as 

 large as a squirrel's ear. 



Mr. Horstmann — What time does the 

 soft maple bloom? 



Dr. Miller — If you haven't any soft 

 maple you must take some other rule, 

 but the soft maple is a very common 

 tree, and I have no doubt Mr. Horst- 

 mann can find it without going very 

 far from his home, unless they are 

 scarcer than I think. 



Mr. Horstmann — Can you give us 

 about the time of the month? 



Mr. Taylor — First to the loth of April. 



Mr. Moore — I think the box-elder 

 takes the place of the soft maple in 

 this part of the country. 



Dr. Miller — That is much later. 



Mr. Moore — I mean as to prevalence 

 of the wood. 



Dr. Bohrer — Any pleasant day when 

 it is warm enoguh for the bees to fly. 



Mr. Wilcox — When the soft maple 

 blooms. 



Mr. Wheeler — When the thermometer 

 is_ from 55 to 60 degrees, without any 

 wind, is my view. 



Dr. Miller — That might occur in Feb- 

 ruary. 



Mr. Wheeler— Month of April, then. 



Mr. Taylor — About my latitude, (La- 

 peer Co., Mich.,) take them out the 

 last days of March, when it is too cold 

 for them to fly. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Suppose the bees 

 are uneasy and would force themselves 



