THE BEB-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



355 



cool, and he reasonable, and thoroughly 

 investigate this most interesting point of 

 modern bee culture. A scale graduated 

 to looths of an inch, and a magnifying 

 glass are not very expensive; I believe 

 our friends, the Roots, can furnish them. 

 Possessed of these, and the skill to use 

 them, a bee-keeper could make some in- 

 teresting observations. If some colony 

 piled up a big record, measure the tongues 

 of its bees. If some one went far below 

 the average, when there was no apparent 

 reason for it, measure the tongues. But 

 don't forget that there area great many 

 conditions that may effect the amount of 

 surplus honey stored by a colony. What 

 is needed is long continued experiments 

 and observations. I can't help thinking 

 how nice it would be if length of tongue 

 were the only qualification needed by the 

 bees that are to store the most honey. 

 We could go through the apiary in the 

 spring and measure the tongues of the 

 bees of each colony, and then rear our 

 queens from the queen that furnished 

 bees with the longest tongues. If we 

 wished to destroy some queens, and 

 unite their colonies, measure the length 

 of the tongues of the bees, and destroy 

 the queen the bees of which had the short 

 tongues. In judging bees at fairs there 

 has been no way of deciding in regard to 

 the real merits of the bees on exhibi- 

 tion, as there is of deciding in regard to 

 the merits of other live stock; if length 

 of tongue were the greatest point of supe- 

 riority, the prizes could be awarded ac- 

 cordingly. I fear I am allowing my im- 

 agination to run away with my caution; 

 but, honestly, friends, don't let's drop 

 this new idea until we know for sure just 

 how much there is in it; but don't be too 

 ready to swallow everything that is re- 

 ported, until there has been a great 

 abundance of proof. 



Just one thing more: If we could only 

 get control of the fertilization of queens. 

 Is it worth thinking of? I believe it has 

 been given up as a hopeless problem. At 

 present, isolation seems to be the only 

 tiling in this line that is practicable. 



HOW LITTr,!'; NEOI.KCTS IvFFKCT TH1<; 



I'KOI-IT OF THK .M'lARY. 



(Read at the ( )iitario Convention.) 



For want of a nail the shoe was lost; 

 For want of of a shoe the horse was lost; 

 For want of a horse the ritUr was lost; 

 Being overtaken by the enemy and slain; 

 And all for want of a horseshoe nail. 



How well this old ditty illustrates the 

 losses that occur in the apiary from little 

 neglects. For want of a pound of feed in 

 the spring the colony may be lost; and 

 for want of the colony the harvest is 

 lost, as there are no bees to gather it. 

 For want of care in disposing of the cage 

 and accompanying bees when a queen is 

 bought, foul brood may be introduced in- 

 to the apiary, and the end thereof no one 

 knows. 



Most emphatically is bee-keeping a bus- 

 iness of details. Of course, there are cer- 

 tain broad principles that must be observ- 

 ed before success can even be hoped for. 

 The apiary must be located where there 

 are honey producing plants, and there 

 must be bees in sufficient quantity to 

 gather the nectar. The bee-keeper must 

 understand his locality; know when to 

 expect the harvest, and have everything 

 in readiness for it. If in a northern cli- 

 mate the bees must be protected in the 

 winter, either by some kind of packing, 

 or by putting them in the cellar. If comb 

 honey is to be produced, some system 

 must be adopted that will keep the work- 

 ing force together instead of having it di- 

 vided up into two oi three colonies. But 

 after a man has mastered all of the basic 

 principles of bee-keeping, yes, after he 

 has become conversant with the details, 

 he may lo.se a large share of his profits 

 simply from out and out neglect. The 

 bees are in the cellar. He does not go 

 near them. He does not know what the 

 temperature is. It may be too low; and, 

 if so, it might be possible to add to the 

 protection afforded by the walls. Boards 

 might be set up around the walls, held in 

 place by strips of wood tacked to the 

 sides of the house, and the space filled in 

 with sawdust. This little care alone 



