Note 2 — PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

Some of our apiarian friends may be inclined to be discouraged from cultivating the Ligurian bees in consequence of the liability of their becoming hybridised when located in proximity to the black bees. We can dispel these fears by stating that we have not unfrequently found that hybrid queens possess the surprising fecundity of the genuine Italian ones, whilst the English stocks in course of time become strengthened by the infusion of foreign blood.