342 EEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OIF AGRICULTURE. 



further fact that the experiments were conducted when few bees at any 

 time attempted to leave the hive, and from the fact that these queens' 

 Tiings were clipped when they were removed from the-nursery cag-e, we 

 can confidently assert that fecundation by the natural method did not 

 take place. These later experiments in fecundation have beou con- 

 ducted through the months of October and November, during' the pre- 

 valence of most unpropitious weather, and those acquainted with t)ie 

 habits and instinct of bees will understand the difficulties under which 

 we have had to labor. With the return of spring and the advantage(nis 

 conditions attending the normal season for breeding, and after dtsoov- 

 ering and adopting better methods and devices for appropriating iunl 

 depositing the seminal fluid, we are hopeful that the fcouiidiition of 

 queen bees may be controlled with the same ease and certainty as ft^cun- 

 dation is rogiQated among aU domestic animals, and that the pedjgrce 

 of the breeding stock in the apiary will be as readily traced and as highly 

 valued as is the recorded pedigree of the illustrious scions of the turi', 

 and the aristocratic families of the American Herd Book. 



We regi'et that the lateness of the season prevents the further con- 

 tinuance of these tests now, as we fully appreciate the necessity of plac- 

 ing the evidence in support of the facts set forth on the incontestable 

 basis of continued and often-repeated succeseses, and not upon the suc- 

 cess obtained in two individual cases. Howevej*, the fact that I have 

 succeeded in producing queen bees of two generations which have by 

 artificial means been made to perform the normal functions of naturally 

 fecundated queens, seems to furnish ground to hope that this subject 

 has ijasaed from the plane of experiment to the i.>osition of practicability. 

 Other methods for controlling fecundation also remain to be tested. 



BEE FOEAaE. 



Our time has been so closely occupied with the experiments reported 

 upon that we have had httle time for other important work covered by 

 your instructions. Considerable information has been gathered and 

 tabulated coucerning the habits and value of dUfferent varieties of honey- 

 producing plants for bee forage, with the view of lengthening the work- 

 ing season by cultivating such as bloom successively from spring until 

 late in the fall of the year. 



IMPEOVED EACES. 



Some preliminary steps have also been taken in the matter of securing 

 for importation some races of bees reported to possess valuable charac- 

 teristics, that their value may be tested, in their capacity as a species, 

 or when properly crossed with races already introduced. 



IMPOETANCE OF APICULTUEE. 



As the economic importance of this industry is more generally real- 

 ized, a wide-spread and growing interest is manifested in this miicli- 

 neglected branch of rural husbandry. The lack of practical knowledga 

 is the main hindrance now existing in the way of the very general 

 "adoption of this pursuit among agriculturists, as nearly all parts of the 

 United States are weU adapted to profitable bee-keeping. 



An idea of the present importance of this industry can be gained 

 from the following figures, taken from the report of the statistician 

 of the Northwestern Socio^ of Bee-Keopers for 1884. He says: "Ac- 



