iSS 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



his time trying one breed, and then an- 

 other; or in improving his stables, or his 

 butter making implement, or marketing 

 packages, or milking machines, what 

 would have been the result? While he 

 has not overlooked these smaller matters, 

 he &\w an open field for improvement 

 which he occupied, and has made his 

 business a success. Will bee-keepers be 

 as wise? 



I do not suppose that all of the honey 

 secreted by the flowers will ever be 

 gathered, even by the best of bees, still 

 less will the best or most productive bees 

 it is possible for man to produce ever get 

 honey where none is to be had; but, if 

 we can breed from our strongest and 

 most industrious stocks till fifty or 

 seventy-five such shall gather what one 

 hundred are now required to do. we shall 

 at least save what it requires to keep the 

 extra number of colonies. I believe we 

 had better, for a time, look for Apis 

 Dorsata hi our otch ujrJs. If we fail to 

 find it, we may. perchance, find some- 

 tliing e\-en better. 



What I have written so far may seem 

 quite theoretical, but I believe it has a 

 solid basis in fact. I will not give in 

 proof what a few isolated individuals have 

 done, who are far away where distance 

 lends enchantment, although I might 

 safely do so. but rather give a few facts 

 from my own experience. It may be re- 

 membered by nianv readers of the Review 

 that two articles from my pen bearing on 

 this subject appeared in ihe Review. I 

 became disgusted with the superior 

 qualities of breeds as a whole. I had 

 found some colonies of black bees greatly 

 superior to the average Italian; while the 

 qualities of the three-banded Italians I 

 had found, from many years experience, 

 to be exceedingly variable. I advanc?d 

 the theory that great improvements might 

 be made by careful breeding for this pur- 

 pose. That I might know what had 

 already- been accomplished I bought as 

 good a queen as money would buy from 

 a queen breeder whom I had reason to 

 believe had for many years been trying to 



improve the productions of his bees. I 

 was unprejudiced, and seeking for the 

 truth. During the summer of 1S9S I 

 reared some thirty-five young queens 

 from this purchased queen. Of course, 

 these mated with mv own drones, or 

 drones from my old stock. 



The spring of 1S99 found me with 

 enough of ihis cross to judge somewhat 

 of its value. The colonies of this stock 

 were scattered tlirough two yards, and 

 had the same care as my old stock. 



I did not have long to wait, however, 

 to note a difference after the flowers be- 

 gan to blcom; for I could tell the hives 

 containing these voung queens about as 

 readily by the extra amount of early 

 honey gathered as by their color, which 

 was quite distinct from my own. The 

 season proved one of the poorest I have 

 ever known, j-et these bees showed their 

 superior working qualities during the en- 

 tire season. 



In September, when I came to look my 

 hives over to see how nmch honey each 

 one had for winter, I found my old stock 

 to average ten or twelve pounds in their 

 brood- chamber, while the new stock 

 averaged not far from twenty-five pounds, 

 nearly or quite enough to winter on. 

 Later, in November or December, I 

 wished to get rid of some honey in some 

 old drone combs, and placed them in the 

 sun on the south side of the barn out of 

 the wind, as the weather was quite cool, 

 to see if perhaps the bees would take it 

 out. I was surprised to notice that 

 almost every bee that worked on it (and 

 they were numerous^ was the descendent 

 of this purchased queen, as could easily 

 be told by the color, while I had yet in 

 my yard some twenty-five of my old 

 stock of bees. Whether trying to gather 

 honey at so unseasonable a time of the 

 year is a virtue, or otherwise, I will not 

 attempt to decide, but it shows at least 

 their vigor, energy, and determination to 

 get honey under adverse conditions. 



Another point in favor of these bees, 

 although only a cross between superior 

 stock and my own, was that they run 



