340 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



countenance, with a physiojiiioiny that de- 

 notes an active teniperaiiieiit and great 

 energy and business" capacitj'— we make 

 you acquainted with our friend, Mr. E. J. 

 Oatinan. A few years ago he was engaged 

 in mercantile business in Dundee. Ill- 

 health compelled him to leave the store; 

 bees were chosen as combining recreation, 

 amusement and profit, as also giving exer- 

 cise in the open air. The result has been 

 not only restored health, but a large and 

 lucrative business. From 1.50 stocks of bees 

 on June 1, 1877, he has secured a surplus of 

 several tons of choice box - honey, sold 

 several hundred dollars' worth of queens, 

 and increased his stock to 300 swarms. 

 When the reader is informed that this result 

 was all secured from a 21 day's yield from 

 white clover, he will readily understand 

 only tact, energy, and a thorougli know- 

 ledge of the business could accomplish it. 



Mr. Oatnian has a decided preference for 

 the Italian bee, uses the "Modest" hive and 

 admires the Bingham smoker. We were 

 more than pleased with the admirable ar- 

 rangement of his apiary, and with the sys- 

 tem and care which were apparent on every 

 band. We saw something over 7.5 queens 

 on one afternoon, and nowhere have we 

 seen a finer line of Italian brood. Mr. O's 

 method of queen rearing exactly agrees 

 with our own ideas of the subject; viz: — 

 that of producing a class of bees that are at 

 once pure, peaceable, hardy, and have the 

 honey-storing qualities most fully develop- 

 ed— in short, a bee that is "lightning for 

 business," as brother Heddon would say. 



Mr. O's success in the apiary most clearly 

 shows how well he has succeeded. As you 

 may have alread.v surmised, dear reader, 

 Mr. E. J. Oatman'is the "presiding genius" 

 of the well known firm of J. Oatman & 

 Sons— his brother Frank constituting the 

 other member of the firm. 



In addition to the apiary, they transact a 

 mercantile business (drugs and groceries) of 

 $25,000 ))er year; own a fine farm of some- 

 thing over 2.50 acres, and have recently 

 erected a fine "creamery" which converts 

 the milk of nearly 400 cows into butter and 

 cheese. Added to this is the manufacture 

 of articles used in the apiary. Their sales 

 on hives and honej'-boxes being already 

 large, and increasing each year. We would 

 like to tell you all of the many labor-saving 

 devices and methods we saw here in use; 

 but we are sure that it will be far more 

 satisfactory for you to do as we did— go to 

 Dundee and spend a few days with the 

 genial, whole-souled and capital good peo- 

 ple—the Oatmans. Herbert A. Burch. 



South Haven, Mich., Sept. 24, 1877. 



For the American ]5ee .Journal. 



Micliigan State Pair. 



The Michigan State Fair closed yester- 

 day. The interests of the bee-keepers of 

 the State were very well represented. I I'e- 

 ceived the first prize on the "Product and 

 quality of lioney," and the diploma for the 

 "best'management and method of securing 

 honey." Many bee-keepers were present 

 and all seemed to take a deep interest in the 

 subject. I had the pleasure of meeting 

 Prof. Cook of the State Agricultural Col- 

 lege, also Brothers Tovvnly and Butler of 

 Jackson. 11. D. Cutting, Clinton, Mich., had 

 on exhibition a bee-hive, which possessed 



considerable merit and drew the first prize. 

 The difficulty with it is, that it is too ex- 

 pensive. Mr. Cutting had on exhibition, 

 also, a buzz-saw to run by steam or water- 

 power, which I think I can safely recom- 

 mend to all bee-keepers. I omitted to saj 

 that Mr. Joseph Butler of Jackson, drew the 

 second prize on honey as a product. He 

 had some tine samples. 



My bees are in good condition. I have 

 some 380 swarms. Have sold quite a num- 

 ber recently. Marcus Wright. 



Middleviile, Mich., Sept. 22, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Imported Queens and Breeders. 



In the September number of the JoUR- 

 NAi., page 308, Mr. Ch. Dadant takes the 

 liberty to say in effect, that tiiere are a few 

 queen breeders who do not like imported 

 tiueens, and that few are dishonest and that 

 tneir dishonesty is the cause of that dislike. 



Now, I wish to know whether it is im- 

 ported queens that are disliked, or whether 

 it is not such as he sends out as Imjwrted, 

 that those breeders dislike; I fear that it is 

 the latter, if Mr. D. is right that there are 

 no impure bees in Italy. 



He says: " They (those sharpest of breed- 

 ers, who wish a class of bees that though 

 irnptire, they can sell as pure, to their 

 ignorant and confiding customers) have very 

 yellow bees; some have queens yellow to 

 the tips of their abdomens, and workers 

 with four yellow bands. If a daughter of 

 these queens chances to mate with a black 

 drone, her workers will lose a yellow ring, 

 but will have yet three left." 



Now I submit the proposition squarely to 

 the intelligent bee-keeping world, that no 

 such queen so mated ever failed to produce 

 some workers with as much yellow as her 

 mother's had, and some with two yellow 

 bands and others with one and some with 

 none, no " rings," as black as the blackest. 



I submit further, that no queen can be 

 found whose workers are strictly uniform, 

 four band bees, unless the so-called Albino 

 queens are such; I will give .IJIO for one. 



1 do not doubt that Mr. D. "could show 

 many letters complaining of the small num- 

 ber of pure mating of the daughters of im- 

 ported queens;" because, if the drone hap- 

 pens to be a purely black one, a very large 

 Eroportion of the worker progeny will be as 

 lack as a tar-bucket, and his customers see 

 it: and so too, can the taint of impure im- 

 pregnation be seen by the experienced eye, 

 even if the young queen is from a mother of 

 the "improve'd" breed; the color of the 

 progeny will be affected as much by the im- 

 pregnation, in the one case as the other; 

 but there is no such thing as impurity of 

 impregnation causing the workers to " lose 

 a yellow ring," for no pure queen, impurely 

 impregnated ever produced uniform work- 

 ers of any color; when the blood is so near 

 pure that none lose more than one ring of 

 yellow, there will be 75 per cent, of the 

 workers as bright as if the imi)regnation 

 had been pure, and many of those of the 25 

 percent, showing the taint, will not show 

 the loss of an entire band of yellow, only a 

 small smutty spot appearing on the first 

 band, others will show only a small yellow 

 spot on the first band. 



I do not wish to be understood as holding 

 that brightness of color is the standard or 



