Mav, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



273 



yield 58 lbs. Best imlividual yield 93 lbs., 

 lowest 35 lbs. 



Strain I. Imported. All run for extracted 

 except one. Average 95 lbs. Best individual 

 yield 152 lbs,, lowest 39 lbs. The comb- 

 honey colony gave 87 sections. 



The best domestic strain A with an aver- 

 age yield of 122 lbs. contrasts strongly with 

 Strain C, also domestic, with its average of 

 only 58 lbs.; and as this latter strain C was 

 bred from stock secured from the breeder re- 

 ferred to above as selling degenerate stock, 

 it seems that my conclusion that such stock 

 has deteriorated is well founded, for this 

 stock once had the reputation of being su- 

 perior as a honey-gathering strain and is still 

 advertised as such. The leather-colored im- 

 ported stock ranked next to the best domestic 

 strain but fell short an average of 27 lbs. 

 per colony, which if figured at 8c made a 

 difference of $2.16 per colony — more than the 

 price of two good queens. The poorest do- 

 mestic strain tested fell short of the best an 

 average of 64 lbs. per colony, which in mon- 

 ey meant a difference of $5.12 per colony. 



Now doesn't it pay to keep records'? Isn't 

 it worth the trouble to know what your 

 stock is? Won't it pay to breed from the 

 best; or, if you buy all your queens, is it not 

 well to know by actual test the most desira- 

 ble stock to purchase? Isn't there a vast 

 difference in the strains of bees? Whether 

 you raise your own queens or buy them, se- 

 lection is important and you must keep ever- 

 lastingly at it. 



What percentage of the readers of this 

 and other bee journals practice the most ap- 

 proved methods of management and use the 

 best appliances obtainable and yet pay little 

 attention to the selection and breeding of 

 the best stock? Should not more emphasis 

 be given this subject? 



A Honey-Producing Contest. 



Why not have a honey-producing contest 

 similar to the egg-laying contests conducted 

 annually by poultry breeders? Appoint some 

 fair-minded honey-producer whose locality 

 will support say 200 or more colonies Ln one 

 apiary and invite queen-breeders to enter a 

 contest such as suggested, each breeder to 

 send free to said apiarist say ten queens 



for competition in huney-producing. The 

 lioney-producer should handle all colonies in 

 tlio same way and keej) an accurate record 

 of the yield of each colony. Would not a 

 report of the performance of the bees of the 

 different strains competing be of interest 

 and value both to the breeders themselves 

 and to the beekeeping fraternity in general? 

 Why not make this an annual event? 



The honey-producer conducting the con- 

 test should bo impartial and should not him- 

 self be interested in breeding queens for 

 sale. To eliminate any suspicion of partial- 

 ity, it could be arranged so that the one con- 

 ducing the contest would not know from 

 what breeders the various strains of bees 

 came. The queens from the breeders com- 

 peting could be forwarded thru some disin- 

 terested party of recognized integrity who 

 could designate the various strains lay fic- 

 titious names or numbers or letters. 



A prize might be offered to the breeder 

 winning the contest, altho it would seem 

 that any breeder w^ould be glad to enter 

 without other reward than the advertising 

 he would get out of winning such a com- 

 petition. The honey-producer's reward would 

 be the ownership of the queens entered. 



Now my only objection to contests of this 

 kind is the chance of unfairness. Could such 

 a competition as suggested be conducted in 

 such a way that it would be absolutely fair 

 and void of any suspicion of partiality? If 

 so why not have iti Would queen-breeders 

 sanction and support such a competition and 

 would they be willing to have the results 

 published? It might be well to publish the 

 names of the three breeders whose bees made 

 the best record and simply tabulate the re- 

 sult of the other strains by letter without 

 giving the names of their breeders. 



I am not breeding queens for sale, but for 

 the last 26 years I have been interested in 

 bees and their improvement. The test of the 

 four strains as reported was made with the 

 direct object of ascertaining their relative 

 merits so that we might select the best to 

 cross with our own stock, which has been 

 improved by selection for a number of years. 

 Earl C. Walker. 

 New Albanv, Ind. 



IMPORTANCE OF MAY WORK 



Between Neglect and First-class Care 

 at this Time Lies the Possibility of 

 Getting a Half or a wo per cent Crop 



By the Editor 



EVERY so 

 often, when 

 our con- 

 sciences become 

 too actiA-e, wo 

 sav to ourselves, 

 "After all, the 

 war must bo 

 fought in two 

 places." Well, 



our boys are fighting it out in one place and of which we are capable 

 no bluffing about it. How many of us hon- Unless our actions are 



ey-produeers can say as mucli? Are we the month of May this 

 doing our work in tlio same humdrum fash- thoughtful, thoro work 



ion wo have in 

 years past, or is 

 our every plan 

 and every bit of 

 work with the 

 bees actuated by 

 a definite vital 

 j)urpose to pro- 

 duce every 

 pound of honey 

 ? 



to belie our words, 

 year will see more 

 done in the apiary 



