70 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



produce yellow bees. My bees were 

 all black when I bought them, and 

 the Italians were introduced five 

 miles away after I had bought- the 

 black bees. The next season a man 

 four miles distant Italianized his 

 whole apiary, and the year following 

 I found about one-third of my queens 

 producing many yellow bees. Beiug 

 pleased by the work done by these 

 hybrids, I introduced the Italians into 

 my apiary the next year, which, of 

 course, put a stop to my observations, 

 as to the distance queens will mate. 

 From the above facts I am positive 

 that queens of any race will mate with 

 drones of another race of bees, unless 

 such are kept more than five miles 

 apart. Nature has so ordained 

 things, that the best results possible to 

 be secured are accomplished by the 

 instinct which she prompts, and thus 

 the queens from one apiary or bee- 

 tree are fertilized by drones from a 

 distance, which secures a cross which 

 prevents too close in-and-in breeding, 

 and gives us a race of bees capable of 

 doing the best work. That it would 

 often be more to our seeming interest 

 as queen breeders if it were otherwise, 

 I am well aware ; but foi the honey 

 producer and for the perpetuation of 

 a hardy race of bees, the Creator has 

 ordained things aright, in this as well 

 as in other matters. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



" Fruit is not injured by bees because a 

 bee has no biter, but only a slender proboscis 

 with which she sucks her food." Dr. Miller 

 says: " That's an argument I've seen used 

 several times, but I don't believe it's wise 

 to use it, for the simple reason that it's not 

 true. I5ees have a biter, as every bee-keep- 

 er knows who has seen them gnawing quilts 

 and even pine wood when the hive entrance 

 is too small." — Ex. 



Ed. American Hee-Keeper, Dear 

 Sir : The Bee-Keeper is more than 

 a success, if I may judge, and why 

 should it not be when we realize it is 

 not an experiment or enterprise 

 sprung in a careless manner just 

 merely to see if it would work. Then 

 we cannot help taking pride in it. 

 Praise is cheap and it seems to me 

 is growing cheaper every day. 

 Perhaps some water the stuff, and of 

 course can afford to reel off their 

 seines in doxological order and pre- 

 cision, thinking thereby to gain a 

 little in the anticipation of any enter- 

 prise. The local praise machines, 

 which are always wound up, are set 

 agog, and the result is some people 

 wait until. quiet is restored, the dust 

 all settled, then if they find the new 

 enterprise is on bed-rock they are 

 willing to go to work, even when they 

 know, as I did concerning the Bee- 

 Keepee, that the enterprise had good 

 bottom. 



When the Bee-Keeper was estab- 

 lished, I knew from long experience 

 with the firm publishing it, that if 

 they run the journal on the same 

 business principles that has governed 

 their supply trade, the journal was 

 not only established firmly, but would 

 excel all journals in clean-cut, pro- 

 gressive literature. I believe I have 

 never given the firm anything that 

 resembled molasses candy, and I do 

 not intend to. I simply owe them a 

 reward of merit and I am man enough 



