1S9G. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



■Jlo 



' Prom Progressive Bee-Keeper). 



QUEENS. 



BY J. W. ROU.SE. 



I woiuier if eveu one- half of the bee 

 keepers realize the importance of good 

 queens? as upon the queen more than 

 any one other thing depends for a suc- 

 cessful crop of honey. I have never 

 seen a season in my bee keeping ex- 

 perience but what some colonies could 

 at least make a living, but have seen 

 some colonies that made a poor living 

 even in a fair season. As bees do not 

 make honey, but gather it, of course 

 they can do nothing when there is 

 nothing to do on or with. If the 

 queen is a good breeder that does her 

 work at the right time, in the right 

 way, her bees are most sure to get 

 something. 



It is bard to convince some that 

 there is as much difference in queen 

 bees as there is in milch cows, or any 

 other kind of stock. While some cow'S 

 are good milkers, others are not worth 

 keeping. So it is w'ith queen bees. 

 Some C)lonies are kept from year to 

 year, and nothing is ever obtained 

 from them. When the old queen 

 gives out, another is reared by the 

 bees from her stock, and so this worth- 

 less breed is continued. 



Remedy. — Replace these worthless 

 queens with good ones that will pro- 

 duce bees in quantities sufficient and 

 with energy enough to get a hustle on 

 themselves. 



If queens are to be bought, this is 



often neglected on account of the ex- 

 pense, but as has been said before, " if 

 one does not wish to go to any ex- 

 pense they had better let bees alone." 

 I do not know of any business that 

 will bring in as good returns for the 

 time and money expended as do bees 

 if given the right attention. I have 

 never failed to get some honey since 

 keeping bees, except one season — that 

 of 1894. That year, by drawing on my 

 best colonies, 1 kept some others from 

 starving, which proved to me that it 

 does not pay to keep a poor queen. 

 Better let them starve rather than to 

 keep them on that way. But by 

 weeding out poor queens the bee keep- 

 er can very materially help his honey 

 crop. 



Again, many let their bees rear a 

 large lot of useless drones that con- 

 sume the stores the workers <lo get. 

 This can be avoided by taking out 

 all drone comb from the brood nest 

 and replacing it with foundation or 

 other worker comb. This is another 

 expense, but one that pays well for 

 the investment. 



By careful watching and proper 

 manipulation one can have the bees 

 build extra combs, by building a few 

 at a time, but if one can stand the ex- 

 pense at the time, it is cheapest to 

 have combs drawn from full sheets of 

 foundation. This insures straight 

 combs and all worker cells, besides sav- 

 ing much honey in building the combs, 



^Mexico, Mo. 



From Auierican Bee Journal. 



HUNTING WILD BEES-AN EXPER- 

 IENCE. 



BY C. F. ZKtI.ER. 



I have been hituting wild bees since 

 I was a boy 12 years old, and will tell 



