February, '21] paddock: value of good queens 103 



Of the nuclei colonies on June 5th, 1 was rated as Poor, 13 as Good 

 and 17 as Excellent. The results of the season in honey gathered are 

 shown in Table 2. Needless to say the poor colony did not produce 

 any surplus honey. Of the 13 good colonies, seven produced Yz super 

 each, four 1>^ supers each and two 2 supers each. Then the thirteen 

 colonies produced 13>^ supers of honey or an average of 1 7-13 supers 

 each. Ample attention was given to these colonies but day after day 

 did not bring the fond realization of the dream that tomorrow they would 

 pick up and do well. 



Again in those colonies rated as Excellent at the beginning of the honey 

 flow the results were exceedingly variable. Two of these colonies pro- 

 duced y^ super, two yi super, four Xyi supers, two 2 supers, five 3 supers, 

 one 4 supers and one 5 supers. Thus ten of the seventeen Excellent 

 colonies produced below the average, a total oiWyi supers or 1.15 supers 

 each. The other seven colonies produced above the average with a total 

 of 24 supers, or 3 3-7 supers each. With these colonies as with the pack- 

 age colonies, the majority of those producing above the average pro- 

 duced 3 supers each. Only 33 per cent, of the package colonies pro- 

 duced the average amount of honey. The seven Excellent nuclei 

 colonies produced an average of three times as much as the average 

 of the other ten, or they produced 75 per cent, of the total crop of this 

 class. If all the nuclei colonies had produced the normal of the best or 

 3 supers, the yield would have been increased almost 100 per cent, or 

 1760 pounds worth $440. In the entire yard the loss to the beekeeper 

 by these low producing colonies was .$560. There were 31 colonies 

 involved in this loss or $18 was the loss on each colony. In other words 

 each poor queen cost the beekeeper $18 in one season, the market 

 price of one dozen queens at present. 



Having stated the effect, is it possible to state the cause ? The queens 

 of either the 40 nuclei or the 20 packages were raised in the same yard 

 and all the queens were doubtless raised at approximately the same time, 

 since delivery was practically the same. On June 5th, or just previous 

 to the main honey flow, the colonies were rated. The difference in the 

 condition of the colonies at this time could be attributed to several causes, 

 more or less within the control of the beekeeper. However, the cause at 

 this date is the same as poor producing colonies and will be referred to 

 later. This cause may not be so pronounced before honey flow begins. 



Reference to Table 1 will show 12 colonies rated as Excellent on June 

 oth of which only 7 produced an average crop as indicated on August 

 5th. Reference to Table 2 will show 13 rated as Good and 17 as Excel- 

 lent, of which onl\' 7 produced an average crop. What can the answer 

 be '- Queens of a low producing type. 



