I902 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



175 



by others, and the useless expense of 

 large nuclei of standard frames as advo- 

 cated by still others. When the expo- 

 sitions of all these other various sys- 

 tems are analyzed, it will be seen that 

 they are naught else than advertising 

 matter, just something on which to 

 base a claim for superiority of queens 

 reared by the^system used by the advo- 

 cate. 



I haveyet to see published a state- 

 ment of the real conditions necessary 

 to the production of normal, healthy 

 queens. One man says that the best can 

 be produced only by transferring the 

 larvae to an artificial cell; another that 

 all queens must be reared in a full col- 

 ony with a laying queen; another, that a 

 small nucleus will rear as good queens 

 as a large one; and so on in endless 

 confusion, and not one of them knows 

 the true why and wherefore of success- 

 ful queen production, or if knowing, 

 has failed to tell it. As fine queens as any 

 one should desire can be raised with a 

 cupful of bees, and as poor queens as 

 ever lived may be produced by a bush- 

 el of bees. Perfectly strong and vigor- 

 ous queens may be "mothered" in a 

 small nucleus, and queens constitution- 

 ally strong may be ruined in a large 

 one. The amount of error and senseless 

 matter that has been going the rounds 

 of the press is astounding, and yet what 

 else should have been expected when 

 so many of the prominent writers scofif 

 at all attempts to have the work and 

 investigations truly scientific, i. e., to 

 ascertain the truth or facts, the funda- 

 mental causes. To be sure, one or two 

 call their systems ''scientific." but 

 nothing could be less so, and if they 

 are asked to define the "laws" on which 

 their system is based, they can only 

 reply in the most vague way. If the fun- 

 damental laws are unknown, how can 

 a system be devised which will conform 

 to those laws? 



Lest some of the earnest bee-keepers 

 who are without a college training des- 

 pair of doing aught towards a scientific 

 study of bee life, let me assure them 

 that a college degree does not necessar- 

 ily make a scientist, and that some of 

 the very best work is done by men of 

 quite modest erudition. It is the faculty 

 of getting at the root of matters that 

 counts; the ability to see the true rela- 

 tion of one fact to another. Mr. Alley 

 has never had the advantasre of what 



may be called a scientific training, and 

 yet he gets at the root of things most 

 effectively, and not only has he recog- 

 nized the essential elements governing 

 good queen rearing, but he has sup- 

 plemented it with a system which en- 

 ables him to conform to those laws in 

 the easiest and cheapest manner. Be- 

 cause Mr. Alley has recognized the fun- 

 damental laws and because he has suc- 

 cessfully and simply applied them, I say 

 he is the ablest queen breeder of the 

 country today, and his system is the 

 best. 



Providence, R. I., Aug. 30, 1902. 



Bee- Keeping for the Masses. 



WHEN I look into the future I see 

 millions of small farms, where 

 neat and comfortable homes 

 furnish all things that are good for the 

 sons and daughters of the household. 

 The old time idea of a good land was 

 one flowing with milk and honey. In 

 the ideal home there should be several 

 cows, one or more horses, some fowls, 

 a good fruit garden and orchard, and 

 several colonies of bees. I hold it to be 

 quite true that when we produce lux- 

 uries we are quite sure to have some of 

 them on our tables; but if they have to 

 be purchased we get along with less, or 

 go without altogether. 



Our fruit growing friends know well 

 the importance of mixing brains with 

 the soil in which to produce the paying 

 crop. The same mixture of brains is 

 needed in producing a crop of honey 

 for the table. Now let me suppose you 

 have a few colonies to begin with. 



Of course, you must have some tools 

 to work with. Let me suggest that you 

 at once subscribe for a good bee Jour- 

 nal. 



Then purchase a standard, up-to-date 

 bee-book. You will also need a good 

 smoker and bee veil. A pair of gloves 

 may help at first, but you will soon pre- 

 fer the hands uncovered and the fingers 

 free. 



Now this outfit need not cost more 

 than four or five dollars, but don't try 

 to get along without these things. Now 

 you should know, what to do, and how 

 to do it. 



Not being able to answer these ques- 

 tions correctly is the secret of all fail- 



