180 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



July 



an apiary of 60 colonies of blacks be- 

 gun, which was accomplished in 1867 

 and the apiary increased to 120 col- 

 colonies. 



I found the Italians proof against 

 the wax moth. They would never de- 

 sert their hives in early spring, and 

 whenever a small amount of honey 

 was obtainable, they would secure 

 that, and gain in stores, while the 

 blacks wouhl require feeding. 



But when the blacks blood was all 

 eliminated, I found that the Italians 

 were not all alike profitable. I sup- 

 posed that the queen that would lay 

 the most eggs must be the best. 

 That I hioio was a mistake. Some 

 queens producing one-half the num- 

 ber of Qg^!i that the other did, gave 

 much better results in surplus honey. 

 The Solons of bee culture told us to 

 introduce uew and fresh blood to 

 avoid the evil effects of in and in 

 breeding. For fifteen or twent}'' 

 years I secured by purchase and ex- 

 change queens from the North, South, 

 East and West, but cross as I might, 

 the same fact ])resented itself, that 

 some colonies were not worth keeping 

 and some queens were worth their 

 "weight ii) gold.'" J said why can 

 not ail be a> good as the best. We 

 can rear queens from only the best 

 stocks, but we cannot be sure of the 

 young que<'ns being fertilize<l ^^' 

 drones froin olonies we might -fj^'-i'f 



When thoi itnliait l> ■ 

 fift*^-n (l>n;ir> p..r ■ ■! y 

 cny WrtT £M- 'I iln 



Viiiuc: ill ri*. \\t\\ mT yr^v ;.»-.f4' ''1^,.^ h\^ 

 fact that Iroes iti the *^i"Mi^' w? • 

 worth no mou* ^^e^ • -l-iiy ihuti t.Vi 

 hives combs and honey la the fall. 



So it has been my practice for a 

 number of years to reduce my stock 

 by killing the colonies that did not 

 come up to my ideal of what a colony 

 ought to be. 



But some men will say " What is 

 your standard of excellence?" First 

 I would prune out everv colouy that 

 shows any signs of black blood. 2nd 

 I would kill all the vicious bees, I 

 would no more keep a vicious colony 

 of bees than I would a vicious cow or 

 horse. Any of them would endanger 

 a human life. 3rd another class of 

 colonies are those that fail to give 

 satisfactory results, though in appear- 

 ance and temper they may be fault- 

 less. Such colonies also must vanish. 

 This great difference in productive- 

 ness is probably more observable in 

 large apiaries. I can account for the 

 great differences in colonies only in 

 this way. 1st the shorter proboscis of 

 the workers of some colonies whereby 

 they are unable to reach the nectar 

 of certain^ttoweis which are obtainable 

 by other.s. 2ud shorter or weakness 

 of wing, or 3rd greater vitality and 

 longevity of q een and workers. I 

 incline to the to the opinion that in 

 this the secret lies. 



We do hioxo that it is not the most 

 prolific queens that have the strongest 

 colonies in the early spring or give 

 ^"'- ■ nio.st substantial results for the 

 ,.»n. riiese facts being known it 

 r- minds me fo»- itee-l;<H.'pt"'r.^ to solve 



r he fH<"i .• >*^ ''■'»• '•' l'."-'y ''i" i 'g 



■ i' -hi-'e ■'; «' '■■■ *»:!^',h a'.:*n ''n.>? 



.It- same y;>' I «. ;;p. '*!> Mio 



1 .It cut ;ind ; ^ Vi^ ' x) ' ; .-.'!• 



i live oni's vnd th - se<Mir'' ilie 



survival of <hv i:Ih <» 



ITiis has been iii; p in r eev- 



