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.

Geo. C. Silsby.

Winterport, Me., Aug. 4, 1870.

[For the American Bee Journal.]