July, inifi. 



229 



American Hee Journal 



stead of allowing each colony to con- 

 tinue its own stock, suppose you re- 

 queen the two poorest from the better 

 stock, and suppose that should only 

 bring them up to the average, 60 pounds. 

 The increase of surplus from the two 

 colonies would be (iO pounds, or 30 

 pounds for each of the queens you 

 have introduced. Right here it may 

 be worth while to stop and inquire 

 whether it might not pay well to buy 

 two queens, say at a dollar each, for 

 those two colonies. With a gain of 

 30 pounds each, you would need to sell 

 it at only 3'i cents a pound to come 

 out even, and all you would get more 

 than that would be so much clear gain, 

 with only the trouble of introducing 

 two queens. Instead, however, of buy- 

 ing, it may be still better to requeen 

 from your own stock. 



But that 60 pounds is the smaller 

 part of the gain. You have brought up 

 the average from GO to 72 pounds per 

 colony, an increase of 12 pounds per 

 colony, and the beauty of it is that, 

 with any kind of proper management 

 on your part, that increased average 

 of 12 pounds is to continue year after 

 year. 



Having secured a definite record of 

 the performance of each colony, you 

 are now to choose the colony or colo- 

 nies from which you will breed in the 

 following season. Two ways are open. 

 One will tell you " Breed from the col- 

 ony that gives you the most honey." 

 Another will tell you, " Don't do that. 

 A colony that gives away above the 

 average yield is a sport, a freak, and 

 young queens reared from the queen of 

 such a colony are inclined to sport in 

 their turn. Having departed from the 

 fixed type, some of their progeny may 

 be good, and some may be very poor. 

 Breed from those that are just a 

 little above the average, and you will 

 hold the gain you have made, and thus 

 gradually and surely you will advance 

 the character of your stock. Slow but 

 sure is the better way." To this will be 

 replied, "There is much truth in what 

 you say. but I have tried the plan of 

 breeding constantly from the best, 

 freak or no freak, and I know that I 

 have made great gain. Of course, 

 I cannot say what might have been if I 

 had followed the other plan, but I doubt 

 if I would have gained as rapidly." 



So there you are, and you c in take 

 your choice of the two plans, or, indeed, 

 use both. In either case, your record 

 is important. Not only is it important 

 to know which queens are best, or a 

 little above the average, but perhaps 

 it is still more important to know 

 which colonies are below the average 



most important work is to weed out 

 the poor stock, replacing with some- 

 thing as good as the average, or 

 better. The great thing is that this 

 weeding out shall be persistent and 

 constant. For after the poorest have 

 been weeded out one year, although 

 there shall be none so low the next 

 year, yet the standard has been raised, 

 and any below that raised standard 

 must in their turn be weeded out, and 

 so on year after year. 



But while the number of pounds sur- 

 plus is a matter of exceeding impor- 

 tance in selecting a queen from which 

 to breed, it is not the only thing. If 

 you should decide that you will follow 

 the plan of breeding each year from 

 the very best, freak or no freak, and 

 should find a colony giving a yield 

 decidedly beyond that of any other 

 colony in the apiary, and yet it should 

 happen that this colony should be ex- 



ceedingly vicious in temper such colony 

 for it is possibly true that your 

 should at once be ruled out as a 

 proper one from which to breed. If 

 section honey is the aim, then a colony 

 would be ruled out eligible for a 

 breeder if it should show sections so 

 filled as to have a watery look. After 

 throwing out any colony with an ob- 

 jectionable trait of any kind, there will 

 still no doubt be plenty to choose from. 

 So keep right at it, year after year, until 

 you reach that point where every col- 

 ony in the apiary is just as every other 

 colony, and then — but just wait unti 

 you reach that point. c. c. m. 



Southeastern Iowa Field Meet. — A 



field meet for the beekeepers of south- 

 eastern Iowa is to be held at the J. I. 

 Danielson qu -en-rearing yard, Fairfield 

 on July 27. All are urged to come. An 

 interesting time is in store. 



DR. MILLER AT HOMK 



raph by E. F. Phillips 



