2.)1 



October, 1912. 



American ISee Journal 



but did not the drone always get out of 

 the way in apparently good health. Did 

 you ever see a drone curl up dead very 

 shortly after being stung ? 



The matter may not be one of great 

 practical importance, but it is well to 

 know the truth. If workers do not 

 sting drones to death it is just as well 

 to stop saying so. 



the Americanized Italians are as gentle 

 as those imported years ago. 



Breertiug I'or Improveineiit 



While some hold that the bee is per- 

 fect of its kind, with no possibility of 

 improvement, there are others who are 

 quite hopeful in the matter. Among 

 these is Geo. B. Howe, who has written 

 a series of very interesting articles for 

 the Bee-Keepers' Review. Even as to 

 the matter of non-swarming he takes 

 an optimistic view. To those who have 

 some belief that a non-swarming strain 

 of bees is among the possibilities, the 

 following passage will give aid and 

 comfort: 



" We surely will never get non-swarming 

 bees until we use queen mothers that have 

 a record of not swarming; also using drones 

 of the same strain. The incubator will not 

 help in the least, nor will artificial-reared 

 queens help about breeding non-swarming 

 bees. But you will have to brectl and rear your 

 Queens Jroiii rolonies not i^iven to swarming. I 

 have had one experience which has greatly 

 encouraged and strengthened my belief in 

 breeding for non-swarming. 



"I had a queen. No. lib. I reared about 50 

 daughters from her. and not one of them 

 ever swarmed. I had some of those queens 

 four seasons, and I never found a larva or 

 egg in a queen-cell. I would have had more 

 of those queens, but they were too cross. If 

 I had known what 1 know now. I would have 

 given them a better trial. I learned rislit 

 there, even if a queen or colony was tiuite 

 cross and not gentle to handle, it paid to 

 breed from her, as I find that we sometimes 

 get our most gentle colonies from them; 

 that is. if we have the right drones to mate 

 with them." 



Note that the first thing is a careful 

 record. Whether it be to breed for 

 non-swarming or for a big crop of 

 honey.a permanent record should show 

 just exactly what has been done, with 

 some expectation that whatever has 

 been done may be, at least to some ex- 

 tent, repeated in future generations. If 

 Mr. Howe had not thus kept track of 

 every colony, he would have failed of 

 that remarkable record of 50 daughters 

 that never swarmed. 



But it must be expected, according 

 to Mr. Howe, that there will be lapses. 

 After breeding for six years he thought 

 he had a practically non-swarming 

 strain. Then in the seventh year he 

 was disgusted to have them swarm for 

 a couple of days, as if they were pos- 

 sessed. But he now thinks that is just 

 what he should have expected, for it 

 was an unusual season, and was re- 

 ported one of the worst seasons on 

 record for swarming. 



He discontinued breeding from that 

 remarkable strain because of its bad 

 temper, but thinks if he had continued 

 he might have struck a gentle streak in 

 them. The question arises whether 

 one is not likely to get bad temper 

 along with desirable qualities. Is it 

 not likely to be the case that a colony 

 which shows great industry at storing 

 is at the same time industrious at sting- 



ing 



Yet older bee-keepers who 



changed from blacks to Italians will 

 recall that in the change from the 

 former to the latter the gain in temper 

 was as great as the gain in industry ? 

 This again raises the question whether 



Dispo.siug- of the Houey 



Kriend Dadant:— I desire information 

 on the best way of disposing of a crop of 

 some 1500 pounds of extracted honey and 

 about 300 pounds of comb honey. I desire 

 to ship it, but do not know where. I wrote 



to in Chicago, and he has offered to 



sell it for me upon 10 percent of commis- 

 sion. What do you think of it ? Where will 

 I be likely to get the best price ? The year 

 has been good for my bees, and I wish to 

 make as much from my crop as possible. I 

 started the season with 36 colonies, and now 

 have Q7. so you see that I have had a very 

 fair result. Illinois. 



The best method to follow in selling 

 a crop of honey of the size mentioned, 

 is to advertise it among your neigh- 

 bors. By letting people know that you 

 have a good crop and letting them sam- 

 ple it whenever occasion offers, you 



mission man, whose name you men- 

 tion, is very reliable, and will get you 

 the best possible price for your honey. 

 But you must remember that your 

 product thus comes in competition 

 with that of thousands of others, that 

 you have to pay freight on it and com- 

 mission, and that it will pass through 

 the hands of at least two middlemen 

 before it reaches the consumer who 

 may be living next door to you. There 

 may be also an additional freight to 

 pay from the large city before it reaches 

 the consumer who may be living next 

 door to you. There may be also an 

 additional freight to pay from the large 

 city before it reaches the place of con- 

 sumption. 



In many instances bee-keepers have 

 shipped their honey away and have 

 witnessed the sale, in their own town 

 groceries, of honey from away. So 



Essays ON Bees and Bee-Keeping. Manoi ha, Tinis.— (See page 2qs.; 



can dispose of a large amount, provided 

 your price is reasonable. 



An apiarist of Indiana, Mr. John C. 

 Bull, at the Chicago-Northwestern con- 

 vention last winter, explained how he 

 sold thousands of pounds of honey 

 directly to consumers, by going around 

 with a sample can, from house to 

 house, and offering each housekeeper a 

 taste of it. That is the best and most 

 profitable way of selling your honey. 

 You may sell it to retailers also, at a 

 little less price than to consumers, say 

 10 or 12 percent less. After your trade 

 is once established, future sales will be 

 easier. 



The next best way to sell honey is to 

 advertise it in the bee-journals. There 

 are always bee-keepers whose crop is 

 short, or who have sale for more than 

 they produce. .X few lines in the "want 

 ads " cost but very little, and are sure 

 to bring enquiries. 



The third method of procedure is the 

 method you have thought of, shipping 

 to commission mercliaiits in the large 

 cities. It is the most expeditive, but it 

 is also the least profitable. The coni- 



they have paid freight and commission 

 to get rid of the honey and some other 

 bee-keeper, in a far away locality, has 

 done the same thing, both losing a 

 part of the profit in the transaction. 



Of course, there are localities where 

 so much honey is produced that it can- 

 not be sold in the vicinity. In such 

 places it becomes necessary to ship it 

 away to the commission man. But one 

 ought to make very sure 'that one's 

 market is overloaded before doing so, 

 and one must not blame the commis- 

 sion man if he cannot secure as good 

 prices as could have been had if we 

 retailed our product at home. 



Remember also that honey does not 

 sell well until cool weather has come 

 and fresh fruit is partly out of the way. 



Houey in Polleii-lJaffs 



The honey-bee is an object of uni- 

 versal interest, and penny-a-liners fre- 

 quently take it as an object upon 

 which to give information, and almost 

 invariably serve up as facts something 



