December 28, 1871- ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICDLTDEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER.! 



519 



between the two varieties. Some writers aiErm there is no 

 difference bnt that of eolonr between the two species, the palm of 

 superiority resting with the black bee, and Mr. Pettigrew in his 

 " Handy Book of Bees," clings to this opinion. I have, how- 

 ever, been already found fault with in pointing out his errors, 

 and it might be conjectured that I would leave that gentleman 

 alone, and cease to doubt the accuracy of his statement. So I 

 would were I as ignorant as the author of the " Handy Book " 

 is abont the Italian bee. I say " ignorant," because he asks 

 questions on the Italian bee, and replies to them all in the 

 negative, not one of which answers is in accordance with the 

 facts. 



Before giving my experience of Ligurian bees, I will review 

 Mr. Pettigrew's chapter on that insect. He is bold enough to 

 assert that his book is for the guidance of " inexperienced bee- 

 keepers," but I must confess that it is only an attempt of the 

 blind to lead the blind, particularly in this chapter. Had he 

 stated his experience of these insects, we would have been able 

 to detect why he has given them such a bad character ; but 

 as he has not done this, it keeps us entirely in the dark as 

 to whether he ever possessed an Italian bee. It must be 

 patent to everyone who reads the chapter, that his object has 

 not been so much to make known the qualities of these bees, 

 as it has been to ridicule the English. 



Mr. Pettigrew's first question on the Ligurian bees is. Do 

 they fly faster ? I will not here endeavour to state how much 

 faster they do fly, but it is sufficient to say that their motions 

 when working are in the ratio of five to three of the blacks, and 

 in a race of a thousand yards they are faster by about a quarter 

 of a minute. His second question, Do they carry heavier loads ? 

 may not be far wrong, but they carry equal to the blacks. As 

 to his third question, Do they lay more eggs ? In the case of 

 four hives, of which two were Ligurians and two blacks, the 

 latter having the advantage in numbers, the former laid, on an 

 average, two to three hundred eggs more daily, beginning 

 earlier and continuing longer in the season. His fourth question. 

 Do their eggs become perfect bees sooner ? may not be faulty. 

 His fifth and sixth questions may be answered thus. When 

 honey is to be had, not only are the Ligurians earlier at work in 

 the morning, bnt they are also later at work at night. This year, 

 when we took our bees to the heather, there were fourteen 

 blacks to one Italian, and whenever they were let free we started 

 " o'er the moor amang the heather," for nearly a mile, and there 

 saw hundreds of Ligurian bees long before a black was visible ; 

 in fact, we never saw any of the latter until we were half way on 

 the road home. On a visit to our bees some time after, we took 

 a roundabout tour, and nearly lost our way, and the thing 

 that showed us our course when several miles distant, was the 

 Ligurian bees in great numbers unaccompanied by a single 

 black one. The Ligurians are also the first to find out any new 

 flower or concealed honey. His seventh question, as to whether 

 they gather more honey, I can answer thus — not only do they 

 gather more honey, but they produce it far finer, and more 

 highly flavoured. Wherever these bees have been introduced 

 they give the same satisfaction, and this year, in the month of 

 May, I had letters from diiierent parties reporting that the 

 Ligurians were, on an average, 10 lbs. heavier than the blacks. 

 His eighth question regarding their rate of breeding is soon 

 disposed of, for as they lay more eggs they must breed faster ; 

 whilst his ninth question with regard to their swarming more, 

 is absurd. They not only swarm more, but their swarms are 

 larger in proportion. When he compares the wasp to the 

 excellency of the bee, we can only exclaim that be is a man 

 preferring colour to symmetry and usefulness. I hope, there- 

 fore, for the benefit of your readers and of his own honour, he 

 will give us an account of his experience with the Ligurian bee. 

 We shall then be able to understand why he has given them a 

 character they do not deserve. 



Though the sting of the bee is so dreaded by many, I be- 

 lieve imaginition has much to do with the pain and e%il that 

 follows in some persons. There are several instances which 

 have come under my observation, that make me often believe 

 people are sometimes more benefited by a sting than otherwise. 

 I have found in hot sultry weather, when it was difiioult to 

 move about without oppression, that a smart sting or two 

 caused me perspire more freely, and to feel much lighter after- 

 wards. There is also another fact that may be of some im- 

 portance, and that is, in two different cases of vaccination, where 

 the patients had been stung, the lymph had no effect, whilst 

 those vaccinated at the same time, but not stung, did well. I 

 have also known persons suffering from sores which, although 

 painful at the time, invariably when stnng healed soon after. 



It is but a short time since I donbted the accuracy of the 

 statement that two queens would exist for some months to- 

 gether in one hive. I was not long, however, in being con- 

 vinced of the fact, as several instances came under my notice ; 

 bat since they were all much alike, and all support the theory 

 advanced by your esteemed correspondent, " E. S." — viz., that 

 aged queens may be tolerated in a hive, I will mention but one 

 of them. This will not only prove the existence of two queens, 

 but will give evidence of several other facts at the same time. 



The hive in the present case was that of an imported queen 

 in the summer of 1867. During the month of August, 1870, I 

 put this queen and her bees into an empty hive, and in con- 

 sequence of a little feeding, and their own industry, it was soon 

 in a fit state to stand the winter. From the abundance of 

 brood and young bees which there were in a month, I felt no 

 anxiety about my beautiful and prolific queen, nor was I at all 

 alarmed in February, when hundreds of young bees sported on 

 and around the hive. Perhaps I was not a little vain, when in 

 the month of March, many drones made their appearance, for 

 as I was sure this was not a case of drone-breeding, I anxiously 

 looked for an early swarm of pure Italians, having no doubt but 

 that they were so. I had satisfied myself a few days before that 

 my queen was alive, and, though aged, able to lay the numerous 

 eggs which produced such lovely-coloured bees. By this time 

 I had determined how many almost-yellow queens I was to 

 have from this stock alone, but " the best-laid schemes o' mice 

 and men gang aft aglee," and one day came from the hive a 

 rush of bees, that did not possess such fine markings as they 

 ought. I was apprehensive, but why? Had I not just the 

 other day seen both queen and workers ? And what need was 

 there to surmise when I could see no signs of hybrids ? It was 

 not possible after September to have a case of pure fertilisa- 

 tion when there were no pure drones, these having been all 

 destroyed long before the middle of August. So I allowed 

 matters to go on, believing that I must have been deceived 

 with the colour of the last relay of young bees, and not until 

 one day in the beginning of May was I made fully aware of the 

 fact that two queens had been living together for nearly a year. 

 On taking a look round my hives I picked up a beautifully 

 marked queen that had been thrown out of the hive. This I 

 knew to be my favourite one, but her shell only remained, as 

 the inside had been thoroughly cleaned out by insects. My 

 first act after finding her was to examine the hive and see what 

 was the result, when to my astonishment I found another dead 

 queen, with her bead in an empty queen cell. This one I sub- 

 jected to post mortem examination, and found her perfectly 

 fertilised. From the appearance of the hive it was clear that 

 the colony was divided, because the one side of the hive con- 

 tained worker brood and eggs, whilst the other side had mostly 

 drone brood with a few worker brood. How both queens came 

 to grief at the same time we can only conjecture. 



My nest object was to raise a young queen, and to be certain 

 that what I was going to raise should be pure, I removed all 

 worker eggs, and inserted a frame of comb of undoubted 

 purity from another hive. Meanwhile the bees had already 

 commenced to raise a number of queen cells containing drone 

 eggs. What a pity Mr. Pettigrew had not a chance like this ! 

 It would surely have satisfied him and refuted the absurd idea 

 that drone eggs are capable of being transformed into queens. 

 One of these was rather singular in its construction ; instead of 

 being hung in its usual vertical way, it was nearly 2 inches 

 long, and extended in a horizontal manner. Notwitbstanding 

 this extravagance its occupant, as well as thoee of the rest, 

 emerged from the cell at the usual time as perfect drones. As 

 I had not a chance of entering into this subject when it was 

 list discussed by our deeply-lamented friend "A Devonshiek 

 Bee-keepek," I may, perhaps, be allowed now to express my 

 opinion on the matter. 



I say that no person who understands the nature and anatomy 

 of the honey bee, will advance the theory that queens can be 

 raised from drone eggs. Mr. Woodbury, in his last letter, very 

 wisely showed where a mistake might arise with those who did 

 not fully understand the nature of the hive and its occupants — 

 viz., that of the transitionary cells, where a worker egg might 

 be placed in the midst of the drone ones. There is, however, 

 another case in which the ignorant, or even some with con- 

 siderable knowledge may be deceived, and it is that of the 

 hermaphrodite bees being raised in queen-cells ; the resemblance 

 that many of these bees bear to the true worker in many cases, 

 perhaps, deceiving the apiarian. I have myself seen these 

 hermaphrodites transformed into queens, and but for some 

 slight part of the male, such as the antenna:, or leg being pro- 



