318 THE ITAUAN OE UGUEIAJT BEE. 



gle out and report either extrene is unfair ; that which is 

 true of the majority, is the ouly reliable criterion. 



I have now related my observations on nearly all the 

 poiats of character enumerated at the beginning, as well 

 as some others. That they are less sensitive to cold, I am 

 not yet prepared to say. That they are more prolific, is 

 suiEciently proved. It is also clearly indicated that they 

 are less so, in good honey seasons. It is also sho^vn that 

 they swarm earlier. Their disposition was found gener- 

 ally much worse than represented, yet under some cir- 

 cumstances very mild. 



I think it very probable that many who obtain them 

 will expect too much, and meet with disappointment. 

 They may procure a colony that proves to be the excep- 

 tion to the rule, or the queen may be impure, producing 

 nothing but hybrids. Although a half blood progeny will 

 be much superior to the natives, the next remove will be 

 so much reduced that they will not be a fair sample. 



PURITY TO BE SECUBBD 



I would advise all those who are disposed to try them, 

 to purchase only of some reliable man, who will guarantee 

 the purity of all he sells, so that if the first queen pro- 

 cured, should prove impure, it would be replaced by oth- 

 ers, until a pure one was obtained.* The lowest price is 

 not always cheapest. Bee-keepers have not as yet been 

 able to decide on a reliable test of purity, a test that 

 would detect the slightest mixture of native blood, with 

 the genuine Italian. All admit that a yellow band must 

 surround the abdomen of pure Italian workers; and that 



* To change a colony of bees from the native to the Italian, it is only neces- 

 sary to remove the native queen and introduce a pure Italian. She will at once 

 commence laying eggs, and in about three months, the whole colony will be 

 Italians. 



