Living and Loving.

To live and to love is better,
When each has its object in view;
To live and to love is blessed,

When those objects are noble and true.

To live, that when mid earth's conflicts
Our life is a help to some heart-
To love all, so truly and purely-

Will both blessings and joys impart.

Thus living and loving, together,
When wisely and well it is done,
Will yield in its highest fruition
A Heaven on earth begun.

-LUCILE.

Queries and Replies.

Are Italian Bees a Distinct Race?

QUERY 810.-1. Is it your opinion that the Italians are a pure and distinct race of bees? 2. If so, why do not our imported queens produce as beautiful, evenly and well marked bees, as some of our home-reared queens? 3. What causes the Italians to "sport" so much? -North Carolina.

I really do not know.-C. C. MILLER. 1. No. 3. Because the type is not thoroughly fixed.-J. A. GREEN.

1. No race at all-only a variety. 2 and 3. Because they are not a fixed type. -J. P. H. BROWN.

1. Only a thoroughbred. 2. Will you tell? 3. Because they are not a distinct race.-G. M. DOOLITTLE.

1. Yes. 2. Because our queen-breeders are breeding more to beauty than other characteristics. 3. This is a mooted question.-J. M. HAMBAUGH.

1. Yes, if there are any pure races of bees. 2. Like Dr. Miller, I must say, "I don't know." 3. Ask something easy.-C. H. DIBBERN.

1. Certainly it is. 2. They have not been bred and selected with color alone in view. 3. It is true of all races of animals, and why not of bees ?-A. J. COOK.

I have just been reading Ernest Heckle on evolution and the descent of man, which convinces me that it would require two pages of the BEE JOURNAL to give space to a comprehensive answer to your questions.-JAMES HEDDON.

2. I think that the majority of imported queens will compare favorably with the same number of home-bred queens. 3. If we had full control of the mating of queens, you would see very few "sports.-H. D. CUTTING.

1. I have no doubt there is a pure race of Italian bees. 2 and 3. Do not imagine that we Americans are the only importers of bees, and it would not be anything wonderful to receive a mismated queen even from Italy.—MRS. J. N. HEATER.

1. Our best authorities have long been of the opinion that the Italians are not a pure race. Still, it is sufficiently fixed to entitle it to the distinction it has so long held. 3. They so much "sport" because of the admixture of some other race.-G. L. TINKER.

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As I understand the matter, all bees in Italy are not yellow, but are more or less crossed with dark bees. Our American breeders have taken great pains to breed for color, hence, as I believe, queens reared by our best breeders will not sport as much as those that come from Italy.-E. FRANCE.

1. Practically speaking, yes. That is, they are pure in the sense that shorthorn cattle are pure. 2. I believe they do, unless by in-breeding our home-bred queens are hightened in color. 3. Everything sports. Name a race of animals, or a family of plants, that all look exactly alike.-EUGENE SECOR.

1. No, not a fixed type. It takes a long period of time and careful breeding to establish a fixed type, or race, of any animal or insect. 2. They are not a fixed or established type or race of bees, hence, the disposition to "sport" or vary. 3. The same as No. 2.-MRS. L. HARRISON.

1. Yes, just as the Norman horses are a pure race. 2. Because our home-bred queens are bred for color, while the imported ones are not. 3. I think the socalled sporting is caused by mixture with other races of bees.-R. L. TAYLOR.

1, I do not think they are, if we figure down fine; but they may be so considered practically, as their characteristics are fixed so permanently that they duplicate themselves with certainty. 2. The matter of color is not a test of purity at all; the tests are peculiar formation, and three rings or more, of various shades of yellow. 3. Pure and purely bred Italians do not sport to any extent, in my experience.-J. E. POND.

1. From what I have read, and judging from my own experience, I lean to the opinion that the Italians are a mixed race. 2. It is claimed for the imported queens that they produce as evenly marked, and as good or better workers, than home-bred Italians, but none as finely marked as the handsomest American-bred.-S. I. FREEBORN.

1. Yes, as much as the black or the Cyprian. 2. Because our ideal Italian bee is above the existing standard in color. 3. The same causes that make sports in all races of animals. Black bees are not all alike. If they were, no one could try to introduce varieties like the Carniolan and the so-called Punic, which evidently differ slightly from other black bees.-DADANT & SON.

1. As the word "race" is usually understood, the Italians are a pure race. 2. For the same reason that some of our home-reared do not "produce as beautiful, evenly and well marked bees" as some others do. 3. I suppose it is be

cause they like to "sport," but I do not believe they "sport" more than others, and then for the same reasons.-A. B. MASON.

1. It is not. 2. As the type is not fixed, they cannot expect to be uniform. I am of the opinion that all of our bees -Italians, Cyprians, Syrians, Carniolans and Germans-are of one species, and sprung from the same stock. Hence, I think it an error to call the crosses between any of these varieties hybrids." There are no hybrid bees. 3. The above answers No. 3.-M. MAHIN.

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1. No. 2. The reason is, American breeders select the finest marked specimens to breed from, and thereby increase the beauty and uniformity of the home-bred bees. 3. The Italian bees "sport" in breeding, because they are not a pure race in the sense of unmixed blood. No pure-blooded race will habitually sport in breeding as do the imported mothers from Italy. But the Italian bee is a distinct type or variety of bees, and there is no impropriety in speaking of them as pure Italians.-G. W. DEMAREE.

1. Yes. I know this will meet some opposition, but I do believe the queens and bees we get from Italy are pure Italian bees, regardless of color. There may be a slight mixture, but no history that I have read substantiates it. 2. One reason is, they strike a sporting " country when they come to America, and our fancy-minded bee-keepers are not satisfied to let their home-bred

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queens take their chance among a whole apiary of Italian bees, but favor them with the yellowest drones. Hence, the bees are brightest. This is measuring everybody's corn by my half-bushel. 3. For some of the reasons above, and others that I do not know, but our potatoes, cabbage, and the like, will sport anyhow, and for what reason I cannot tell. This is a deep question.—MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY.

1. I think the most of the Italian bees are a pure and distinct race of bees. There are distinct races of men, but they all " "sport" in color as well as in other characteristics. 2. The Italian bee is not so much bred for color in Italy. Some breeders in this country, by breeding in-and-in, and by the introduction of Cyprian blood, have produced very beautiful bees. This is all right if the more valuable characteristics are preserved, which too often is not the case. 3. I do not know that they sport in color more than the general law of variation produces in pure races.-P. H. ELWOOD.

1. Italian bees are certainly a distinct variety, or as some call it-race. 2. Italians do not breed their bees for color, beauty or golden-bands; while here in America, that appears to be the greatest aim of breeders. In Italy the bees are dark, and there are black (or what appear to be black) bees there too. noticed this fact while there, and to it we called the attention of the gentlemen who accompanied us, while "on the spot." 3. Italian bees do not "sport' any more than any other animals or plants.-THE EDITOR.

We

Five-Banded Bees. Mr. O. F. Wilkins, of International Bridge, Ont.," on March 8, 1892, asks this question:

Who was the originator of that strain of Italian bees known as the "fivebanded golden Italians ?"

As we might not give credit to the right person, and thus do some injustice by answering hastily, we invite those interested in these bees to present their claims to priority in private letters to the editor. Then an answer will be given in the BEE JOURNAL in accordance with the facts ascertained in the case. To publish all the letters would result in confusion, and may not be advisable. We will determine that later.

Topics of Interest.

Apis Dorsata from Ceylon.

W. P. FAYLOR.

I have just been reading an account a certain traveler gives of this famous bee in Ceylon; and the great wonder to me is why we cannot get this race of bees introduced into this country. They are described as having glossy, blue-black wings; their bodies are striped with yellow and the glossy blue-black; but the golden color largely predominates. This, for beauty, would certainly exceed

ever, that the Government is willing, but the main difficulty seems to be to find the bee-men who has the courage to go in pursuit of these bees. As there are many settlements now of the English on the island of Ceylon, the safety of visiting that country can be assured.

Nów, since queen-bees have been safely sent to Australia from America, it is very probable that queen-bees might be sent from Ceylon to America. The question first to be agitated is, Who will go to Ceylon, start an apiary, and ship queens to this country?

It is to be remembered that queens of the above-named race mate with their drones late in the evening; hence, if once introduced, they can forever be kept a distinct, pure race without inter

anything we now have under domestication in America.

This bee is further represented as being about one-fourth to one-third larger than the Italian or German varieties. They build their combs as much as 6 feet in length, and frequently widen them out to 4 and 5 feet. Their cells are said to be about as large as the drone-cells of the common species, and these cells at the tops of the combs are frequently built 3 to 4 inches deep to hold the great amount of honey they gather.

Mr. Frank Benton, who captured 4 colonies of these bees, tells us that they build only one size of cells for workers and drones. Surely, if as represented by Messrs. D. A. Jones, Benton, Kingston and others, these bees would have fine play on the red clover of this country. Not only would they gather honey in abundance from this plant, but they would aid in the fertilization of poor soil.

When I read, a year or so ago, that the United States Government was to appropriate $5,000 for the quest of new varieties or races of bees, I had hoped that "Apis dorsata," ere this time, would be in our possession. In this I have been disappointed. I believe, how

mixing with other races, as all of our present stock will do. Shall we let this matter drop, or shall we keep it before the public?

Mt. Auburn, Iowa.

Rules for Judging Bees at Fairs.

W. Z. HUTCHINSON.

Taken as a whole, the code of rules for judging bees and honey at Fairs, as given by Geo. F. Robbins, is a good one.

The rules for judging bees are not exactly what I would advise. I would limit the nuclei to only one comb each. One comb will show as much-yes, more, than a greater number. With one comb, the queen may always be found. This is often the chief attraction to many. Most people have seen bees, but very few have seen a queen. I would not favor a large quantity of bees, because they worry more, and seem to wear themselves out sooner than a moderate cluster. Another thing, a large body of bees makes it more difficult to find the queen. Neither do I see any advantage in a large quantity of brood. It cannot be kept in all stages," as our friend suggests. Bees in confinement usually

quit brood-rearing. At least that has been my experience with single-comb nuclei.

Another thing to which I object, is the placing of the three-banded bees ahead of the four or five banded. If it is the yellow bands that mark them as the yellow race, the greater the number of bands, the greater the perfection in this direction. While my own personal preference might be for the darker strains of Italians, there are so many good men who favor the lighter varieties, that I hardly feel like saying in a Code of Rules that the Premiums shall be given to the "leather backs.' I must say, however, that I have little faith in judging of bees by looking at them at Fairs.

Flint, Mich., March 9, 1892.

Apiarian Knowledge and Experience.

J. W. TEFFT.

Men who would not expect for a moment to ask advice of a lawyer or a physician without paying for it, seem to forget that the same law should hold good in expert bee-keeping affairs.

Apiarists and men who are about to invest money in bee-keeping, or are already in it, will walk into the home of some expert bee-keeper, and ask questions, get and examine plans, and even drawings of some mechanical inventions, or seek advice that none but an educated bee-keeper would be competent to give, without thinking of paying for the service rendered.

The bee-keeper who has graduated from the A B C class in bee-culture, spends more money and time to get his education that does the lawyer or doctor. If a competent bee-keeper were consulted before or after the apiary or device was started by the amateur, there would be fewer failures and disappointments, and it would be a good investment to pay well for such services in any case.

Men who want to use the

brain and training of these competent bee-keepers without pay, would resent an impeachment of "sponging" on anybody, yet to the expert, making his bread and butter by using his brains and training, they are very despicable deadbeats.

to

There is another class of men, or a few of the same class, who seem think that bee-periodicals exist for no other purpose than to do their expert thinking for them. They will ask

questions in bee-keeping that any fair bee-keeper in their place could answer in a few minutes. They want you to design a frame, a honey-board and section, and want to know how to manage bees for certain work, for a dozen different purposes, each stating many local peculiarities that materially affect the case; and whose sound judgment is necessary to insure success.

One of this class wrote not long ago, asking for the required sizes of frames, brood-chambers, and honey apartments necessary to keep bees from swarming, and how much more honey could be produced by a non-swarming, wing-clipped queen, etc. Now, I do know barely enough about bees to get along, but what I know about hives is limitedsomething like my correspondent's information on the same subject.

I wrote him that if I were in his place, I should employ a competent man to work out the problems, and offered to recommend a mechanical bee-engineer, if he knew of none. I received a postal card reply as follows, verbatim :

"The reeson you don't answer wright is becoss you don't know. You bee writers aint so smart as you pertend."

The information covered by the last sentence of the rebuke, came as a great shock to me. But after calmly thinking it over, I decided not to commit suicide, but to struggle along as I had before, without knowing everything.

There is another class who advertise for help in an apiary, that want much for nothing. I answered one, giving experience, hives I have used, age, recommendations, etc. The reply I received is as follows:

"DEAR SIR:-Yours is received. We smiled when we read your age. In brief, we will say, you won't do-won't 'fill the bill.' Too old. We want a man to work the farm, and do all kinds of labor, and had some liking for bees."

I wish to say to those who want something for nothing, that out of every $10 paid to a competent bee-man, $1 is for what he does-the other $9 is for what he knows. It is knowledge that costs, and that is valuable! The number of hours labor is of minor importance. Where salaries go into the five figures, "knowing how," is what such salaries are paid for and how few there are who have the natural ability to learn how; and he who tries to solve the problems in bee-keeping, will find that it takes a little longer than a lifetime.

This is an age of specialists. Each man can learn to be an expert in one