298 HIVE-BEES. Chap. VIII.. 



successive old cocoons. The best authorities 57 concur that, with 

 the exception of the Ligurian race or species, presently to be 

 mentioned, distinct breeds do not exist in Britain or on the Con- 

 tinent. There is, however, even in the same stock, some vari- 

 ability in colour. Thus Mr. Woodbury states 58 that he has 

 several times seen queen bees of the common kind annulated 

 with yellow like Ligurian queens, and the latter dark-coloured 

 like common bees. He has also observed variations in the 

 colour of the drones, without any corresponding difference in 

 the queens or workers of the same hive. The great apiarian 

 Dzierzon, in answer to my queries on this subject, says 59 that 

 in Germany bees of some stocks are decidedly dark, whilst 

 others are remarkable for their yellow colour. Bees also seem 

 to differ in habits in different districts, for Dzierzon adds, 

 "If many stocks with their offspring are more inclined to 

 swarm, whilst others are richer in honey, so that some bee- 

 keepers even distinguish between swarming and honey-gathering 

 bees, this is a habit which has become second nature, caused by 

 the customary mode of keeping the bees and the pasturage 

 of the district. For example ; what a difference in this respect 

 one may perceive to exist between the bees of the Liineburg 



heath and those of this country ! " " Removing an old 



queen and substituting a young one of the current year is here 

 an infallible mode of keeping the strongest stock from swarming 

 and preventing drone-breeding ; whilst the same means if adopted 

 in Hanover would certainly be of no avail." I procured a hive 

 full of dead bees from Jamaica, wmere they have long been 

 naturalised, and, on carefully comparing them under the micro- 

 scope with my own bees, I could detect not a trace of difference. 

 This remarkable uniformity in the hive-bee, wherever kept, 

 may probably be accounted for by the great difficulty, or rather 

 impossibility, of bringing selection into play by pairing par- 

 ticular queens and drones, for these insects unite only during ^ 



5 7 See a discussion on this subject, in 59 'Journal of Horticulture,' Sept.. 

 answer to a question of mine, in ' Journal 9th, 1862, p. 463 ; see also Herr Kleine 

 of Horticulture,' 1862, pp. 225-242 ; also on same subject (Nov. 11th, p. 643), 

 Mr. Bevan Fox, in ditto, 1862, p. 284. -who sums up, that, though there is some 



58 This excellent observer may be variability in colour, no constant or per- 

 implicitly trusted; see 'Journal of ceptible differences can be detected in 

 Horticulture,' July 14th, 1863, p. 39. the bees of Germany. 



