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$li5PER\tAR'^'\@ HEDINA-OHIO- 



Vol. XXIX. 



DEC. 15, 1901, 



No. 24. 



I'm afraid that, after reading- p. 939, 

 some beginner will expect a little more 

 than he will realize. I suppose that $28 

 dollars from a swarm in a fairly g-ood sea- 

 son would be considered by Mr. Doolittle 

 as rather exceptional. 



I AM SURPRISED to find that, with a sin- 

 g"le exception, Maeterlinck's Life of the 

 Bee is spoken of on both sides of the ocean 

 as a work without fault. Can it be that its 

 brilliancy and beauty blind the eyes to 

 what are really serious defects? 



Imprisonment of nuclei for 24 hours, as 

 mentioned p. 148, would not only give time 

 for young bees to hatch out, but would go 

 a great way toward making the bees stay 

 that were already hatched out. [Yes, I 

 think that is a good point. — Ed.] 



The Chicago Convention, Dec. 5, was 

 a great success, both as to interest and 

 numbers in attendance. C. P. Dadant, W. 

 L. Coggshall, and others brought it up 

 -nearly if not quite on a level with the old 

 Northwestern conventions which were so 

 popular. No reason why there should not 

 be a Northwestern at Chicago every fall. 

 Editor York is a capital presiding ofticer. 



"No set program" is mentioned in the 

 notice of Michigan convention, page 940. 

 That seems to be getting to be quite the 

 rule, and a good rule it is. The long pa- 

 pers can be read just as well in the bee- 

 journals, but the face-to-face discussions 

 cjin not be had without the meeting togeth- 

 er. [Yes, providing we had live inen to do 

 the discussing; and usually our bee conven- 

 tions have such men on hand. — Ed.] 



. J. E. Hand says, p. 932, that the rule to 

 winter outdoors colonies heavy in bees and 

 stores, and cellar those light in either, 

 holds good " wherever it is at all desirable 

 to winter in the cellar." Perhaps, perhaps, 

 friend Hand; but whenever I've tried win- 



tering strong colonies out it has been at a 

 loss. [But, generally' speaking, I think 

 friend Hand's rule a good one. Here is the 

 situation for a large number. They have 

 more bees than one cellar can accommodate. 

 Obviously some colonies will have to be out- 

 doors — which shall they be? The strong 

 ones, of course. — Ed.] 



There you go again, Mr. Editor, on a 

 side track. You say, p. 929, that in some 

 seasons $5.00 per colony might be made in 

 Florida, etc. Sure; and a good deal more 

 than that in Marengo. But I don't begin 

 to reach $1.00 in the worst 3'ear; and I 

 ought to reach $5.00 in the very worst year 

 if it is correct to say " that at least $5.00 a 

 year is a conservative estimate." [I beg 

 pardon, doctor; I was giving you rather 

 moderate wages. Let me see. Some time 

 ago you figured up what the earning capac- 

 ity of your bees was per colony. Have you 

 got the data handy? If so, let us have it 

 so that we can see how much you are satis- 

 fied with. — Ed.] 



F. B. Simpson, in Review, stands sponsor 

 himself for the idea that freak best queens 

 should not be selected to breed from, and 

 tells me to come on with my brickbats. 

 Well, here comes one, F. B. G. M. Doolit- 

 tle says that for 30 years he has followed 

 the plan of breeding from the best (and, if 

 I understand him correctly, the more of a 

 freak a queen was \t\ waj' of securing ex- 

 ceptional yields, the better she suited him 

 as a breeder), and as a result he has not 

 only brought up his average, but has se- 

 cured a much greater uniformity in the 

 yields of different colonies. I don't say 

 j^our plan is not better, F. B., but I believe 

 breeding from the greatest yielders — freaks, ^ 

 if 3'ou please — yields excellent results; and 

 it is easier to follow out than your plan for 

 us common folk. 



That sleepy feleow on p. 936 saj's he 

 would pronounce a queen pure Italian if 

 her workers were all three-banded or all 

 five-banded. Please wake up. Rip, long 

 enough to tell us some things. Would you 

 pronounce pure a queen such as the editor 

 mentions on the next page, with workers 



