22 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
examine the wings of any future queen he lets 
into his apiary. 
This is an instance of how many disappoint- 
ments in beekeeping occur, and rather points 
to the desirability of experts in giving the 
benefit of their advice and experience to assist 
beginners in their own neighborhood. 
(To be continued .) 

NEW BEE JOURNAL. 
Just as we are going to press with our second 
number, wo have received a copy of the first 
number of The Australasian Bee Journal , 
published in Auckland, N.Z., by Hopkins, 
Hays & Co. ; J. Hopkins, editor. Our readers 
will remember that about four years ago, the 
first (we believe) Bee Journal published in 
Australasia appeared, entitled The New Zea- 
land and Australian Bee Journal. Two years 
ago' this journal became incorporated in the 
New Zealand Farmer, in which most valuable 
and interesting articles on Beekeeping appeared 
regularly. The apicultural industry in our 
sister colony, appears to be making good 
progress, jor now again the journal emerges 
from its two years’ seclusion in the pages of 
the New Zealand Farmer „ and comes to us once 
more standing alone. The journal is like our 
own, a 16-page pamphlet, slightly larger 
than The Australian Beekeepers’ Journal, and 
capitally printed on good paper. The sub- 
scription is six shillings per annum, and the 
sub j ect matter, under the able pen and direction 
of Mr. Hopkins, is of course practical, useful, 
and well selected. We hope to get some 
valuable pickings from our New Zealand con- 
temporary, and trust the editor may get some 
scraps occasionally from ours. We see an 
abstract from our pages already, namely, 
Mr. Naveau’s communication on “ Corrosive 
Sublimate ” as a cure for foul brood, and at 
the foot thereof the editor questions the 
necessity of using distilled water for 
making the solution. The answer is this, 
that unless pure water be used the mercury is 
soon deposited from the solution by the 
presence of minute quantities of alkalies, or 
their salts, or of vegetable matter; by using 
distilled water it keeps active much longer 
than if any ordinary water is used. We are 
sure are readers will join with us in wishing 
The Australasian Bee Journal a wide circulation 
and complete success. 
PRODUCTION OP COMB HONEY. 
The American Apiculturists, having invited 
essays on this subject from several of the most 
experienced apiarians in America, publish in 
their last issue several of these papers. These 
are so practical, useful, and suggestive, that 
we intend giving pretty full abstracts of them 
in our columns of succeeding numbers for the 
benefit of such of our readers as are working, 
or intend to work for comb honey. 
INTERCOLONIAL BEE NEWS. 
Tasmania.— The Bee Talk by “Apiarian,” 
in The Tasmanian of 11th June, speaks upon 
the question of Pure Italian Queens, and what 
constitutes the distinction between pure and 
impure (or hybrid) Italians. “Apiarian” admits 
this to be a difficult subject, and gives the 
opinion of several prominent American api- 
culturists. It certainly is very doubtful what 
constitutes the characteristics of a pure Italian 
bee. The anatomy of the species is similar, 
but the marking of the varieties forms a 
very doubtful criterion, and we believe that if 
a breeder of queens obtained a specially marked 
variety by crossing a North or South Italian 
bee with an Egyptian,Tunisian,Cyprian or even 
South African bee, and called the result pure 
Italian, he could scarcely he contradicted, so 
long as his bees are marked by the three yellow 
bands. If one possesses a stock of bees, the 
most of which shew the three yellow or light- 
brown bands when their abdomens are ex- 
tended, he should be satisfied they are as pure 
as need be. It is very difficult now-a-days to 
ensure pure mating- of purely-bred queens, 
unless places can be found where no other bees 
exist, and where young queens can he sent 
with selected drones until they commence to 
lay. Such places may be found on some of 
our large plains, but nowhere else, I imagine, 
as our little black apis mellifica is almost 
ubiquitous where food is to be got. 
Our experience is that for honey gatherers, 
and for hardy profitable bees, none beat the 
first cross or two, between a pure Italian queen 
and blacks, or Cyprian and black ; these bees, 
the first cross especially, are often as gentle, 
or gentler than the Italians themselves, and 
always give us less trouble and more profit 
than the pure races. “Apiarian ” in Bee Talk, 
No. 49, mentions the importation of Ligurian 
bees by Mr. Edward Wilson, into Victoria 
twenty-two years ago. This is quite true, 
as is also the fact that the strain soon got lost, 
and that it is a very common thing now to find 
bees wild in the bush, with a trace of the 
orange-colored lunule on the back of the 
thoracic segment of the abdomen, indicating 
a streak of Italian blood. 
lProceeDings of .iBeelieepers’ 
Bssociattons. 
S.A. BEEKEEPERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
The annual meeting of the above association 
was held on Thursday evening. The chair 
was taken by Dr. Cockburn, M.P„ who in the 
course of his remarks said that as a member 
of the association he felt great interest in the 
beekeeping industry, which was increased by 
the fact that the district he had the honor to 
represent in Parliament was probably the 
largest centre of honey-production in South 
