_Wenham, Mass._, August, 1870.
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[For the American Bee Journal.]
Italian Queens.
I wish to thank the Rev. E. L. Briggs for his excellent article upon the
permanency and purity of Italian bees, published in the August number of
the Bee Journal, although I cannot concur in all his conclusions, nor
accept some portions of his theory; but it is on a subject that will
soon be of absorbing interest to every bee-keeper.
To the central idea of his article, that our aim should be _perfection_,
undoubtedly all will cordially assent, while few will adopt it
practically, for obvious reasons. Bee-keepers, as a class, have neither
time, taste, nor inclination to attain the highest results in this
direction; though they will seek to improve their stock, provided it can
be done cheaply and without much trouble. It is well known that a
_cross_--all things being equal--invariably improves stock. It therefore
follows that the introduction of impure Italians even, will have a
beneficial effect and thus help the matter, if for no other reason than
simply crossing and mixing the blood.
Mr. Briggs will admit that comparatively few persons will pay $8.00 or
more for tested queens to breed from or to Italianize their stocks with.
And until such queens of undoubted purity can be afforded at a much
lower price than that, the great mass of bee-keepers will continue to
regard well marked Italian queens at $2.50 each, as a great blessing,
inasmuch as they vastly improve the general status of the bee, even if
not quite reaching the point of perfection.
Mr. Alley, to whom Mr. Briggs refers, has furnished me with queens
perfectly satisfactory, being as finely marked as any I ever saw, and
their workers and daughters are “chips of the old block.” Certainly the
introduction of such blood will not cause deterioration in all or any of
those qualities that a progressive bee-keeper delights in. It is
pleasant to have bees gentle and harmless; but when that quality is
obtained at the expense of activity in breeding or working, it becomes
an unprofitable luxury.
The question that is so often asked--“Are pure Italians superior to
hybrids, as workers and breeders?” must be satisfactorily settled by
breeders of pure Italians, before bee-keepers generally will accept
fully the conclusions of Mr. Briggs.
My own experience has satisfied me that hybrids are far superior to the
pure Italians, in every quality save that of gentleness. Possibly my
queens may not have been absolutely pure, yet they conform to the best
marks as described by Quinby and others. Those of my stocks that are
unquestionably hybrid have given the best satisfaction in every respect.
Others assure me of similar experience. Will some one explain this fact?
In view of it all, I can but regard a general crossing of Italians and
blacks, as of immense advantage to bees and bee-keepers, and I hope and
trust that friend Alley will continue to distribute, far and near, by
scores and hundreds, those large, prolific and beautiful queens at $2.50
each.