THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



207 



CZJ 



Several times in my life have I seriously con. 

 sidercd the idea of attempting the development 

 of a superior strain of bees. I knew that it 

 would require years of careful, patient, persist- 

 ent work in the way of selection, crossing, test 

 inp, etc., and there have always .seemed to be 

 too many other irons in the fire for me to make 

 room for this one. Sometime I maj' make the 

 attempt; at present, however, I ana glad to know 

 that one man, hy giving twenty years of his life 

 to the work has met with a fair measure of suc- 

 cess. I have reference to the breeder mentioned 

 in my last advertisement of superior stock. Be- 

 ing a little curious to know along what lines he 

 had worked, I asked him to tell me, and from 

 his letter I make the following extract: — 



In regard to the origin of my strain of Italians 

 I would say that they were developed by selec-. 

 lion and crossing. The first Italian queen that I 

 ever posses.sed was of the Thos. G. Newman 

 stock. The next was of A. I. Root's red-clover 

 stock, purchased in iSSi. In 1882. I purchased 

 one of friend Root's best imported queens, for 

 which I paid J6.00. She was a valuable queen, 

 indeed: producing workers which were hardy 

 and regular hustlers for gathering honej'. I 

 stocked my apiary with her daughters, saving 

 only a few' queens of the other stock to furnish 

 drones. This gave me a direct cross, which, I 

 think, is the secret of my success. 



In 1S83 I found one of the daughters of the 

 Root irnported queen far out-stripping every- 

 thing in the yard in the way of honey-gather- 

 ing and comb-building: and her bees capped 

 their honev so white that it made it appear the 

 most beautiful comb honey I ever saw. In this 

 queen I had an acquisitfon. I used her as a 

 breeding f|ueen. Her bees were not as hand- 

 some as the Newman stock; but beautiful 

 HONEV attracted my eye and pocket-book more 

 than fancy bees. 



Permit 'me to say right here that I fear that 

 alKjut nine out of every ten queen breeders make 

 the mistake of breeding for color; sacrificing 

 business qualities. 



I love to look at the beautiful, golden, five- 

 banded Italians; and I wish that they were as 

 good for business as the regular three-banded 

 Italians; but I have tried them and found them 

 -sadly wanting. 



Tlie queen from which I am now breeding is a 

 wonderful <iueen, to say the least. Her bees are 

 excellent honey-gatherers; and came through 

 the past severe "winter in fine shape; and are now 

 just iiooMiNc,. 1 would not part with this queen 

 for One Hnndred Dollnrs! 



This breeder has always advertised in a mod- 

 est, quiet, unassuming sort of way, nothing in 

 propiortion to whai the cjuality of his stock would 



have warranted, and at last I have decided that 

 I can help him, and benefit my readers, at a 

 profit to myself, by advertising these bees in a 

 manner befittingly energetic. 



The price of these queens will be fi.50 each. 

 This may stem like a high price, but the man 

 who pays it will make dollars where this breed- 

 er and myself make cents; and when you come 

 to read the conditions under which they are sold, 

 it will not seem .,0 high. The queens sent out 

 will all be young queens, just beginning to lay, 

 but, as there are no black bees in the vicinity, it 

 is not likely that anj' will prove impurely mated. 

 If any queen should prove to be impurely m.at- 

 ed, another will be sent free of charge. Safe 

 arrival in first-class condition will be guaranteed. 

 Instructions for introducing will be sent to each 

 purcha.ser, and if these instructions are followed, 

 and the queen is lost, another will be sent free 

 of charge. This is not all: if, at any time within 

 two years, a purchaser, for any reason what- 

 ever, is not satisfied with his bargain, he can 

 return the queen, and his money will be refund- 

 ed, and 50 cents extra sent to pay him for his 

 trouble. It will be seen that the purchaser runs 

 NO RISK WHATEVER. If a quecii does not arrive 

 in good condition, another is sent. If he loses 

 her in introducing, another is sent. If she should 

 prove impurely mated, another is sent. If the 

 queen proves a poor layer, or the stock does not 

 come up to the expectations, or there is any 

 reason why the bargain is not satisfactory the 

 queen can be returned and the money will be re- 

 funded, and the customer fairly well paid for his 

 trouble. 1 could not make this last promise if I 

 did not KNOW that the stock is really siterior. 

 I said that the price would be f 1.50 each. There 

 is only one condition under which a queen will 

 be sold for a less price, and that is in connection 

 with an advance subscription to the Review. 

 Any one who has already paid me, or who will 

 pay me, Si 00 for the Review for 1900, can have a 

 queen for Si.oo. Of course, all arrerages pre- 

 vious to 1900 must be paid up before this offer 

 will hold good. This special offer is made with 

 a view to the getting of new subscribers, and as 

 an inducement to old subscribers to pay up all 

 arrearages and to pay in advance to the end of 

 the year. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, FLINT, MICHIGAN, 



