166 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 14, 1901. 



fully mated. This plan, however, prevents more than one 

 cross in a season. It has been proven that in the case of 

 live stock, where breeding from nature toward a certain 

 type, that the selections must be from both the male and 

 the female, and ol the two the male is the more important. 

 It is necessary, therefore, to control both sides if we wish 

 to develop a longer tongue, because it is not a natural 

 tendency. 



After three years of failure and success from these and 

 other methods, from stock which measured 5, 8, and 6 mm., 

 I have made two direct crosses, and the result is stock which 

 measured 6.4 mm. 



There is as j-et a question as to what will be the out- 

 come of this idea. The problem which confronts us at 

 present is that of mating the queen. When we succeed in 

 this we may experience the difficult3' of having our stock 

 suffer from in-and-in breeding, but this can doubtless be 

 overcome. 



If some one will take the contract of mating the queens 

 as I want them mated. I would agree to develop the strain 

 of bees with a tongue as long as desirable. 



There are three methods, it seems to me, of accomplish- 

 ing the desired results. One would be to sow a large barren 

 tract on some island in the sea with our June clover. The 

 corolla-tubes of this would be short because the soil would 

 be too poor to grow the clover thrifty. An apiary located 

 in this clover would reap a fine harvest from it because of 

 its short corolla. Then we would gradually lengthen the 

 corolla-tubes by adding fertilizers to the soil, and in a few 

 hundred years we would have bees that would successfully 

 obtain a harvest from June clover. We all know that it is 

 the tendency of animal life to adapt itself to its surround- 

 ings. So the bees would have gradually stretcht their 

 tongues to reach the nectar in the clover. This method 

 can hardly be considered practical. 



The next best thing will be to increase the length of 

 the tongue by direct crossing. This method will, at the 

 best, require many years of careful work. Why not add to 

 this another method which will work in with this one per- 

 fectly, namely, to breed a race of clover with a shorter 

 corolla-tube ? Plants are more variable than animals, and 

 therefore more easily changed from their original types. 

 There are examples of this all around us. From a small 

 yellow variety of corn, with an ear less than 6 inches long, 

 and a stalk not 3 feet high, we have the large varieties of 

 Dent which stand 10 feet, or even more, in height, and bear 

 two or three ears. Cabbage and lettuce have been selected 

 with a view to the value of their leaves. Phlox drumundi 

 has within the last SO years been changed from a small 

 pinkish flower to the beautiful double white flowers of the 

 present time. All these have been selected with a view to 

 a certain type. Clovers have been developt with a view to 

 a forage crop, and nowhere is there any record of work 

 being done on the flowers themselves. Dr. Beal — one of 

 our best authorities on botany, and especially grasses — 

 said while talking with me on this subject: " A field of 

 clover represents as many and as varied types of the same 

 species as would a field of corn planted from a mixture of 

 all the known varieties." It seems tome, then, that there is 

 a chance to do some good work on the clover. There would 

 be little danger of its going back to its original type, for 

 only the short corolla-tubes would be fertilized by the 

 honey-bees, and the first crop of this clover would yield the 

 seed. 



Let me impress upon you that in all probability there 

 are few present here to-night who will live to see bees work 

 freely on June clover. Do not misunderstand me. I hon- 

 estly believe that it is possible to breed a strain of honey- 

 bees with tongues long enough to work clear to the bottom 

 of a June clover-blossom, but the process will be a slow one, 

 and probably not practical for the ordinary bee-keeper to 

 undertake. What I do think will be practical, and should 

 be done by every bee-keeper, is to keep the longest-tongued 

 stock that it is possible for him to find. 



I dare say that next season there will be cataloged by 

 the leading supply-dealers a piece of celluloid with a mc. 

 scale, lense, and a half-dozen cover-glasses thrown in. 

 They will offer the whole outfit for about .'52.00, and every 

 up-to-date bee-keeper will know the length of the tongues 

 of every strain of bees in his yard, and will rear his queens 

 accordingly. 



I think that in the past the ordinary bee-keeper has 

 been too likely to rear his queens "just as it happened," or 

 possibly has paid special attention to the three or five yel- 

 low bands. This is all wrong. When selecting a work- 

 horse we do not pick out a sharp-backt, slab-sided horse just 

 because he works willingly. We find a square-built, blocky 



horse that has the ability as well as the willingness to work. 

 Wh}' not apply the same horse-sense when selecting our 

 breeding stock in the apiary ? 



If this method of selection is followed for a few years 

 there will be no more short-tougued bees in your apiary. 

 Then, too, you will not see one colony working on some 

 vile weed, and storing strong, black honey while the colony 

 beside it is storing beautiful white honey from second-crop 

 clover, or from some other plant with a deep corolla. 



J. M. Rankin. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON A. MODEI, SCORE-CARD. 



The committee appointed at the National convention in 

 Chicago, to draft a model score-card to be used in judging 

 bees, honey, etc., at fairs, was appointed so late in the 

 meeting that they could not get time to decide on various 

 points, and after much corresponding they have decided to 

 off'er the enclosed score-card — not as a perfect score-card, 

 but as a help, and with the hope that it may be tried in 

 various parts of the United States, and then be so modified 

 by another committee at the next meeting as to fill all 

 demands : 



Quality 25 



Comb 

 Honey 



I Variety 



I Perfection of cappiag . . 

 1 Completeness of " 

 I Straightness of comb .. , 

 I Sections, clean and neat 



General 

 Display 



Quantity 25 

 Attractiveness 50 



f I Variety 5 



j I Body 5 



Quality 25 \ Flavor 5 



Extracted 1 | Style of package . . 5 



Honey ] 1 Kinds of packages. 5 



Quantity 25 

 Attractiveness 50 



Single 



Case 



Entry 



Comb 

 Honey 



Not less than 12 pounds nor more tha 

 25 pounds. 



Points of judging as above, graded : 

 white, amber or dark. 



j Points of judging as above, graded as 



white, amber or dark. 



Extracted ' , . ., I },^^"^*>' •■••••■.•■• ^ 



, Granulated. | Fineness of grain . 5 



(Separate j Color 5 



I entry.) | Flavor 5 



t I Package 5 



Honey 



I Color and markings 30 



Size of bees 20 



Queen 20 



Brood 5 



Quietness of bees 10 



Style of comb 5 



Style of hive 10 



Each race of bees to have the markings and color 

 peculiar to its race. 



Nucleus 

 of Bees in 

 Obser- 

 vatory 

 Hive 



Queen- 

 Bee 



Quality SO 



Variety 25 



Style of cage . . 25 



(^ 



s per nucleus of bees. 



I Color JO "I 



Beeswax | Qrain' ^0 ' ^"'^ '^^^ ^^^" ^° pounds. 



Display 20 I 



Imple- ^ Number of kinds SO 



mentsand 



Supplies. 



Appearance or attractiveness 50 



Bakings 



Candies and confections . 



Honey-Vinegar 



Honey-Wine 



Fruits (canned) 



1 



Greatest number, sweetened 

 with honej, recipe for mak- 

 ing with each exhibit — 

 1st Prize. 



Respectfully submitted, 



N. E. France, 



W. Z. Hutchinson, 



F. Wilcox, 



R. C. AiKiN, 



O E. Hershiser, 



Commiltee. 



