liable to mate with drones from such 

 do-nothing colonies as others, just in 

 proportion to the per cent, of such 

 drones in the apiary, and the chances 

 may even be in greater proportion 

 should there be many beginners of the 

 new school in the immediate vicinity. 



After closely observing and experi- 

 menting in this line for 8 years, I am so 

 positive with regard to the results, that 

 I would not exchange my present stock 

 for twice the amount picked up promis- 

 cuously through the country, strength of 

 colonies, same style of hives, and all 

 other conditions being equal, unless I 

 had reserve queens to introduce at once. 

 I have no axe to grind, for I have not a 

 queen for sale at any price ; if I had, 

 they would not suit some of my bee- 

 keeping friends, for they have not all 

 the golden uniformity. 



To begin the improvement of any 

 kind of stock, we must take pains in 

 selecting the parents, and breed from 

 such only as show the qualities aimed 

 at in a marked degree. If I was to 

 point out a line to pursue for improve- 

 ment, I would breed queens from such 

 colonies as show the most desirable 

 points, such as honey gathering, ability 

 to stand the winter well and not 

 dwindling away in the spring, mild dis- 

 position, and lastly, color, if it can be 

 obtained with the other desirable quali- 

 ties ; if not, sacrifice it for something of 

 more importance to the honey producer. 

 Not that I prefer dark color, for I too, 

 like handsome bees, but men that depend 

 upon their bees for support for them- 

 selves and families, must have more 

 substantial qualities than fine feathers. 

 After the queen cells were sealed in full 

 colonies, being started from the egg 

 (no others admitted), I would transfer 

 them to the nucleus that had been un- 

 queened, and remove to the drone 

 apiary, which should be 5 or 6 miles 

 from other bees. I would keep no 

 drones there but the choicest that could 

 be procured, and many of them. I 

 would be particular in selecting drones, 

 to take them from colonies that had 

 distinguished themselves in the quali- 

 ties sought as well as for their indivi- 

 dual size and beauty. For breeding on 

 a small scale the apiarist could have 

 recourse to the Kohler or other known 

 methods that give him partial control 

 over the mating of the queens, but I 

 would much prefer the distant apiary. 



Scientific breeders of domestic ani- 

 mals of all civilized countries recognize 

 the necessity of selecting strong, well 

 developed, and perfect sires, knowing 

 they are much more certain to stamp 

 their own individuality upon their off- 

 spring than sires of less stamina and 



constitutional vigor. If we reason 

 from analogy, the necessities for select- 

 ing drones as well as queens are obvious, 

 in order to arrive at the greatest per- 

 fection in " breeding up." 



The more natural tact and indomit- 

 able perseverance brought to bear upon 

 this subject, together with that keen 

 observation and necesssary enthusiasm 

 which ever attends the skillful breeder, 

 the greater will be the measure of suc- 

 cess. 



As yet we have been unable to com- 

 pletely control the mating of queens, 

 therefore we have not made as rapid 

 strides in improvement as might be 

 desirable, but.we still hope that Yankee 

 genius will solve the problem and show 

 us the way. 



Garland, Pa. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-keeping as a Specialty. 



T. F. BINGHAM. 



Successful bee-keeping does not de- 

 pend on a large apiary run on the 

 highest style of the art. The success 

 attained in agriculture, manufactures 

 and the ordinary pursuits of life are not 

 all brilliant and startling. It is true 

 that we read of farms of immense pro- 

 portions, factories which are the main 

 interest of a city, and merchants, whose 

 reputation for business is world-wide. 

 We have a few great lawyers, a few 

 great doctors, and a few great thieves. 

 These men challenge our attention by 

 the scope and brilliancy of their genius. 

 But it must be borne in mind that of 

 these there are but few. The great tide 

 of human attainment runs deep and 

 still. 



Special bee-keeping like special farm- 

 ing, in a few isolated cases, has been a 

 marked success. But any careful ob- 

 server will not fail to realize that we 

 are more sure of a steady and ample 

 supply of bread, meat and potatoes, 

 when the raising of these commodities 

 are distributed over a large extent of 

 territory and a large number of small 

 producers. Special stock raising is only 

 possible mid broad pastures and nutri- 

 tious grasses. So with special bee- 

 keeping, the pasture must be of the first 

 order, wide and good. Bees are like 

 hens which from causes not generally 

 understood, only do best when but few 

 are kept. Special efforts have been 

 made to augment the number and im- 

 prove the breed of fowls so as to raise 

 eggs as a specialty. Such efforts have 

 been only failure's. If the world de- 

 pended on special egg-raisers for its 



