Chap. VIII. HIVE-BEES. 29 9 



flight. Nor is there any record, with a single partial exception, 

 of any person having separated and bred from a hive in which 

 the workers presented some appreciable difference. In order to 

 form a new breed, seclusion from other bees would, as we now 

 know, be indispensable ; for since the introduction of the Ligurian 

 bee into Germany and England, it has been found that the 

 drones wander at least two miles from their own hives, and often 

 cross with the queens of the common bee. 60 The Ligurian bee, 

 although perfectly fertile when crossed with the common kind, is 

 ranked by most naturalists as a distinct species, whilst by others 

 it is ranked as a natural variety : but this form need not here be 

 noticed, as there is no reason to believe that it is the product of 

 domestication. The Egyptian and some other bees are likewise 

 ranked by Dr. Gerstacker, 61 but not by other highly competent 

 judges, as geographical races ; and he grounds his conclusion in 

 chief part on the fact that in certain districts, as in the Crimea 

 and Ehodes, the hive-bee varies so much in colour, that the 

 several geographical races can be closely connected by inter- 

 mediate forms. 



I have alluded to a single instance of the separation and 

 preservation of a particular stock of bees. Mr. Lowe 62 procured 

 some bees from a cottager a few miles from Edinburgh, and 

 perceived that they differed from the common bee in the hairs 

 on the head and thorax being lighter coloured and more pro- 

 fuse in quantity. From the date of the introduction of the 

 Ligurian bee into Great Britain we may feel sure that these 

 bees had not been crossed with this form. Mr. Lowe propagated 

 this variety, but unfortunately did not separate the stock from 

 his other bees, and after three generations the new character 

 was almost completely lost. Nevertheless, as he adds, "a great 

 number of the bees still retain traces, though faint, of the 

 original colony." This case shows us what could probably be 

 effected by careful and long-continued selection applied ex- 

 clusively to the workers, for, as we have seen, queens and 

 drones cannot be selected and paired. 



60 Mr. Woodbury has published seve- 3rd series, vol. xi. p. 339. 



ral such accounts in 'Journal of Horti- 6 2 « The Cottage Gardener/ May, 



culture,' 1861 and 1S62. 1860> p< no . and ditto in , Journal of 



61 « Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist..' Hort.,' 186<> p 242 



