The Italian Bee by The Rev. George Kleine, Third Article

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section eight of The American B Journal, Volume one, number three,
March eighteen sixty one. This is the LibriVox recording. All
LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information
or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Rid by D. Rando,

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The American B Journal, volume one, number three, March eighteen
sixty one, by various The Italian b by the Reverend
George Klein, third article. It cannot be doubted that among
the great number of persons engaged in B culture, comparatively

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few will take pains to familiarize themselves thoroughly with the theory.
The Italian bee would consequently never become extensively distributed in
the country if she could be used only in the
interests of science, that is, if she did not, likewise
possess qualities decidedly important in the practical relations of the business.

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But in this respect also this new race promises to
be a highly valuable acquisition if she really possesses the
excellencies ascribed to her. If it be not merely the
charm of novelty that has engendered the enthusiasm evinced for
the stranger, we may indeed indulge anticipations of most gratifying results.

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But what are the good qualities claimed for the Italian
bee which entitled her to a preference in practical bee
culture over the kind hitherto cultivated. Captain Baldenstein, who was
simply a disinterested observer, never having reared any except for
his own use, early remarked her superior productiveness and jeersen

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long before there was a demand for them save for
scientific purposes. Found Captain Baldenstein's observations confirmed by his own experience.
His original colony arrived from Italy in the month of February,
and on transferring it to one of his own hives
on the day after its arrival, he found that two combs,

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each about eight inches square, were filled with brood in
the various stages of development. The queen must therefore have
laid on an average about three hundred eggs per day
in the preceding three weeks, notwithstanding the unfavorable state of
the weather at that early season, and the annoyances to

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which she must have been exposed during the transportation of
the hive in the course of the ensuing summer. Moreover,
he took from the original stock combs containing more than
sixty thousand and sells filled with brood to supply the
numerous artificial colonies in which he was rearing queens, and

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the stock remained populous, nevertheless storing up an unusual quantity
of honey. Mister Hubler of Altenburg, at the close of
May took an Italian queen and twelve ounces of bees
with a sealed comb of common brood, and established them
as an independent colony. They multiplied so rapidly that though

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he took from it a brood comb subsequently, they still
filled the main chamber of their hive with combs and
gathered sufficient stores for the winter. Similar evidences of the
extraordinary fertility of the Italian queens have been furnished besides
in numerous other cases, so that their superiority in this

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respect cannot well be doubted, though possibly some portion of
the striking difference may be attributable to the greater care
and attention which the Italian stocks have received from their owners.
Another superiority claim for the Italian bees is their disposition
to swarm early in the season. This point is fully

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conceded by Captain Baldenstein, who says likewise that the half
read stocks inherit this disposition. I cannot myself venture to
give an opinion, as I practice artificial multiplication exclusively in
my apiary, and have therefore had no opportunity to institute

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a comparison. But if the queens commence over positing earlier
and are more fertile than common bees, it may be
regarded as a fair inference that the stocks would sooner
be in a condition to send out natural swarms. If, however,
their fertility, like that of the kind, depends on or

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is governed by seasons and circumstances, the earlier or later
issuing of swarms will be regulated accordingly. The matter is moreover,
of no special importance in practical bee culture, as the
experience a pierian knows how his bees should be treated,

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so as to subserve his purposes. In this direction, in
our variable climate, where thousands of bees perish from the
vicissitudes of the weather, it would be of greater practical
importance if the Italian bee should prove to be more
hardy than the common kind. Jersen remarked evidence of this

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trait in them soon after he obtained his first colony
on the twelfth and thirteenth of March, while the ground
was still very generally covered with snow. He saw with
surprise that they were busily carrying in fallen and very
few of those that drop on the snow became chilled.

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Though natives of a warmer climate, and therefore might be
presumed more sensitive to cold, he thinks the apparent paradox
of greater heartiness may be explained by supposing that in
their native land, where the mornings are cool and the
nights are frequently cold, they instinctively labor early because the

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nectar of the flowers is dissipated by the fervid heat
of the day. He also carried Italian and common bees
into a cold room and found the former were still
actively fluttering at the window, when the latter had already
become benumbed. The Barren of Roskits reports the same fact

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of the bees of Carneola, which are identical with the Italian,
stating that they begin to work generally while the ground
is still partially covered with snow, enduring the frequent sudden
and violent changes of weather with surprising immunity. Similar observations

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have been made by our peasants, who knew nothing more
of the Italian bees than that they were peculiarly marked.
Thus one of them said to me recently, quote, the
Italian bees must be hardier than mine, as I saw
them on some early blossoms this spring, at a time
when mine had not yet begun to work. End quote.

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The Baron of Bilepsch, however, expresses a doubt whether they
are hardier, though he admits his inability to form a
conclusive opinion, because there was no snow remaining on the
ground when his bees began to fly in the rough
cold weather of April and May more of the Italians
perished because these ventured forth in defiance of the chilling blasts,

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while the common bees remain snugly in sconced in their hives.
Certainly no indication this on the part of the latter,
that they felt themselves to be constitutionally as hardy as
the former. No one surely would expect them to be
wholly insensible to cold, But the apprehension largely entertained that

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as natives of a warmer country they cannot stand this
climate may be dismissed as groundless, since they have safely
passed through several very rigorous winters. Here Jeerson thinks that
their superior ability to endure cold arises in part from
their surprising activity and agility, peculiarities which the Baron of

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Berlepsch also concedes to them, and which he says they
display most remarkably when attacked by or attacking other bees.
Connected with these traits is also their manifest superior courage.
They are the boldest champions and bravest defenders of their hives.

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They are much more vigilant and far less liable to
be called quote napping end quote than our common bees.
Every stranger of whichever race, attempting to enter their hive
is at once repealed or arrested and dispatched. And it
is hardly conceivable that an Italian colony having a queen

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could ever be overpowered when attacked by our common bees.
The frequent examination of my artificial colonies, which were necessary
while I was rearing queens, often exposed them to most
persevering assaults, but they invariably succeeded in beating off the assailants.

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I have no doubt that our common bees so frequently
fell in successfully defending themselves, chiefly because they are not
efficiently alert in aigel qualities which the Italians undoubtedly possess
in an extraordinary degree. So completely have I satisfied myself

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of their courage and conduct when hostile demonstrations are made
against them, that I never have the slightest misgiving as
to the result. On the contrary, it has become one
of my amusements to witness the conflicts and observe how
speedily the Italians achieved the victory. I no longer employ

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precautionary measures to prevent attacks, knowing them to be wholly superfluous.
The testimony of mister Roth is to the same effect.
He had occasion to observe that a weak artificial colony
consisting of only about thirty workers, with the fertile queen
long successfully resisted the attacks of a populous Italian colony,

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though it finally had to succumb. Hercules himself must yield
to odds end quote. This noble trait can hardly be overestimated,
and it alone would unquestionably entitle the Italian bee to
the palm of superiority. We might indeed infer from it

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likewise a greater propensity to rob a quality not exactly
of the most praiseworthy sort, but the propensity to rob
is an heirloom in the entire family of bees, and
the Italians may perhaps be entitled to claim a somewhat
larger share of it. The Baron of Berlepsch says they

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endeavor to force an entrance into every other hive, and
another observer states that wherever there is anything sweet to
be licked up, the Italians are always sure to be
first on hand. Mister Roff says quote with an eager
yearning after honey, they are ever incl to rob, and

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if there is anywhere within reach a weak colony to
be sacked, the Italians are certain to secure the lion's
share of the spoil. Similar accounts have reached me from
various other quarters, and I have myself had demonstrative evidence
both of their disposition and skill to appropriate the stores

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which others had faithfully garnered. But I have also found
that all this is harmless if the propensity be not
fostered and aided by the mismanagement of the despoiled colony.
The disposition to rob results from an inordinate desire to
accumulate stores of honey, and if displayed more strikingly by

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the Italian than by common bees, it manifestly presupposes in
them a higher degree of industry, a trait in fact,
for which they are pre eminently distinguished, for which Captain
Baldenstein already awarded to them the highest praise. He found
that under precisely similar circumstances his Italian stocks always secured

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more ample stores than his common hives, and could generally
spare some surplus honey when the latter had not even
laid up enough for the winter. Jersen early noticed the
decidedly superior industry of these bees as he saw his
newly obtained colony carrying and pollen in March, while the

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ground was still covered with snow and his common bees
were inactive. Fearing that it might be stolen, he screwed
the hive containing the strangers fast to its stand in
his apiary, and so left it during the summer, transferring
from it from time to time combs containing worker and

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drone broode for the purpose of rearing queens. On the
twenty third of June, the drones were expelled, and all
hope of further multiplying peer stalk that season terminated. He
now let the hive remain undisturbed and the bees for
a considerable time labored with the most remarkable industry, but

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gradually they relaxed their efforts, and when the buckwheat sown
on rice double came into blossom, they were clearly outrivaled
by the common stalks and some late made colonies. Still,
as young bees continued to make their appearance, he felt
assured that the hive was in a healthy condition. Late

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in the fall, when he undertook to remove it into
winter quarters, he found it so heavy that he could
not lift it. The cause of their apparent remissness was
now obvious. Having early rid themselves of a host of
useless consumers by expelling the drones, they had in a
short time filled all their combs honey, and were thenceforward

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constrained to remain idle for want of storage room. And
a Pierian friend wrote to Zeerzen quote, I can now
unhesitatingly recommend the Italian bees. Whilst during the past summer
our common bees were comparatively indolent, the Italian were perseveringly busy,

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adding perceptibly to their stores from day to day, whereas
the common stocks were constantly diminishing in weight. I frequently
opened the hives and found that while the latter had
stored up little or nothing. The former not only contained
a good store of honey and capped combs, but also

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a large quantity freshly gathered in open cells. I could observe, too,
that they visited many flowers to which I never saw
common bees resort, and this fact helps to account for
the surprising difference in the result. In May eighteen fifty five,
mister Hubler stocked the lower section of an observing hive

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with a small Italian colony, which they speedily filled with comb,
storing every unoccupied sail with honey. He then gave them
access to the upper section, placing an empty comb therein.
In a few days, this was stored with honey, and
the bees ceased to labor for want of room. He

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removed the full comb and inserted an empty one, and
the little colony immediately resumed work with their former zeal
And industry. He had stocked a similar observing hive at
the same time with common bees, but these only filled
the lower section. In the beingenzietone, mister Rock gives the

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following as a result of his observations on the superior
industry of these bees. Quote on the fourteenth of September
eighteen fifty four, I removed the queen of a second
swarm and introduced a young Italian queen in her stead,
which produced a numerous progeny in the course of the fall.

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Early in the ensuing spring, the remaining common bees disappeared.
The colony, though at no time very populous, worked very industriously,
and when the brooding apartment containing one thousand, nine hundred
twenty cubic inches was filled with honey and brood, the
bees were allowed access to the honey chamber containing one thousand,

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two hundred cubic inches, which they likewise fully stored with honey.
The supply in the brooding apartment was more than sufficient
for their wants. Next winter, a half free colony placed
in the square box hive containing two thousand, seven hundred
thirty cubic inches, filled it completely, and its weight is

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so great that I cannot lift it. On the twenty
second of June I drummed out a swarm from an
Italian hive, which, by its industry soon worked itself into
a good wintering condition. The parent hive and a hive
of common bees were then interchanged, and I thus obtained

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two swarms of mixed bees from the former, each having
a young Italian queen. After the second swarm issued, I
transferred the parent hive to a new location and set
the swarm in its stead. Both have done exceedingly well,
the parent hive being now very heavy. I drummed out

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a swarm on the seventeenth of July from another Italian hive,
and removing the parent hive, set the swarm in its stead.
The swarm gathered sufficient for the winter, and the parent
stock has a large surplus to spare. This district is
only moderredly favorable to bee culture, and the larger number

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of my common stocks are rather poor. Hence, I cannot
but regard it as a fact that these comparative results
have conclusively demonstrated the superior industry of the Italian bees
end quote. A year later, mister Roth reiterated this opinion
as based on further observations. Thus, quote that the Italian

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bees are more industrious than the common kind is no
longer doubted by any bee keeper who has had both
kinds in his apiary. The present year, like the two preceding,
was unfavorable to the bees. During the principal gathering season,
my common stocks have very little honey to spare. Some
of them indeed have scarcely a supply adequate to their

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own wants, whilst all my Italian stocks have ample stores
and a large surplus end. Quote in eighteen fifty four,
the Baron of Berlevsch stated that he was thoroughly convinced
from personal observation of the superior industry and greater practical
value of the Italian bees. In the fall, when the

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WAPs attacked his grapes, the Italian bees followed in their wake,
at once appropriating the juice of every punctured berry. If honey,
or dissolved sugar, or any saccharine liquid was left exposed,
the Italian bees were sure to be attracted by it,
long before the common bees made the discovery. Recurring to

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the subject in eighteen fifty six, he stated that he
had no opportunity that year to make comparative observations, but
that in the apiary of his friend mister Everhardt, the
Italian bees had so greatly excelled the common kind in
honey gathering that the fact of their superiority in this

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respect could no longer be called in question. At the
Apierian convention in Gustro. He made a similar declaration and
re iterated it also at the convention in Dresden a
year after, adding that when early in the spring a
few flowers were expanded, the Italian bees never failed to

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visit them in search of nectar. But he appeared to
apprehend that this good quality did not lead to corresponding results,
because it seemed to him that their queen's fertility became
exhausted sooner, and they were more disposed than common bees
to produce drones in excess. Nevertheless, if their superior industry

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be conceded, the Apierian has it in his power to
obviate the other disadvantages by a seasonable renewal of the
queen's and a judicious and careful suppression of drone brood.
In addition to their admitted industry. The early expulsion of
the drones has an important bearing on the productiveness of colonies,

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and early writtens of supernumerary consumers must exert an obvious
influence on the preservation of stores and enable the bees
to enjoy the full benefit of their labors. The fact
thus becomes of practical value to the beekeeper, as increasing
his chances of success the fact itself has indeed been questioned,

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but it has been so frequently observed that it cannot
well be longer held in doubt. Thus, mister Sagge of
Hungary says, the most important advantage presented by the Italian
bees is the greater quantity of honey which they gather
in store up and according to my observations for three years,

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this advantage results mainly from the earlier expulsion of the drones,
to which they are instinctively prone. Another and highly important
quality in a practical point of view possessed by the
Italian bees is their mild and tractable disposition. Dread of
the bee's sting does, undoubtedly, to a large extent, operate

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to the discouragement of bee culture. There are many timid
persons who are alarmed by the presence of the insect,
and others less sensitive indeed still cannot approach a hive
without painful apprehensions. Others, again, though disregarding the momentary pain

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inflicted by the sting, suffer so much from the swelling
which ensues that they feel constrained to foregrow the pleasures
of pursuit, which exposes them to such risks. These objections
are in a great measure obviated by the introduction of
the Italian bee, which is assuredly less irritable than the

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common kind. It certainly can and will sting, but generally
does so only on propagation. In comparison with the common kind,
they may justly be turned gentle and peaceable. Their animosity
becomes excited only when they are accidentally annoyed or intentionally

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irritated in close warm weather or during great heat with
abundant pasturage. When common bees are inclined to be very troublesome,
we may unhesitatingly approach an Italian hive or stand in
front of it, without incurring the displeasure of its inmates.

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With due care and coolness, all necessary operations may likewise
be performed with impunity. They sometimes threaten, though they seldom sting,
whereas with common bees it is usually a threat and
a blow, though the blow comes first. The Barren of
ross Cutts bears the same testimony to their gentleness, and

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adds that he has never been stung. Though I cannot
go to that extent, I must concede that almost invariably
some act or movement of mind provoked the infliction. True,
this gentleness has been denied in some quarters, but the
difference may have been produced by the treatment which the

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bees received, And there may be instances where an Italian
colony proved to be excitable and refractory without any apparent cause.
There must be regarded as exceptional cases, especially since it
has been ascertained that the same colonies, in other hands
and under different treatment, evinced no such irascible disposition. Thus,

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at the Dressdine convention, Count Stosche stated that he once
had an Italian colony in his apiary which exhibited such
an unamiable temper that he resolved to banish it. The
queen was transferred to a colony in a distant apiary
where her project showed no symptoms of a pugnacious spirit,

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and the old colony, after rearing another queen, became as
gentle and tractable as all his other Italian stocks were.
This mild and peaceful character of the Italian bee is
now so generally acknowledged that some have fancied it should
be regarded as on the whole an objectionable treat. Even

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the Baron of Berlepsch conceives it to be problematical whether
this gentleness is a recommendation, as he considers it desirable
that mischievous boys and designing knaves should be kept at
a respectful distance by the dread of this insect's formidable weapon.

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He would rather submit to the infliction of a dozen
stings daily than be deprived of so efficient a protection
for his hives. But to the great majority of beekeepers,
the console quences of a sting are exceedingly unpleasant, and
some have been induced to abandon bee culture on that

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account alone. Hence Jersen has justly remarked, quote, though I
disregard stings myself, it is very disagreeable to find our
visitors occasionally annoyed and wounded by the bees, or to
have one's neighbors complain of them, as a nuisance which

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the police should abate to secure the safety of children.
No such unpleasantness, and no such dangers need be apprehended
from the cultivation of the genuine Italian bee. End quote
end of section eight.