medium size, large but fine wings, and ac- 

 tive. Should be noted for her gentility, in- 

 dustry and prolificness. Her progeny should 

 be distinctly marked by three yellow bands 

 across the body. They should be mild in 

 temper, but quick in defence when suddenly 

 alarmed, and gentle in manipulation of the 

 hive, adhering closely to the comb. The 

 purity of the queen can only be tested by 

 her progeny, especially her queen progeny.* 

 Unfortunately the latter clause, for some un- 

 foreseen reason, was omitted in the report 

 published in the American Bee Journal. 



The national convention held in the city of 

 New York, in response to the above resolu- 

 tion, so far complied with our desire as to 

 advise beginners "to purchase only tested 

 queens of reliable breeders." We appre- 

 ciate the recognition of our request so far as 

 it goes, but it is hardly sufficient to prevent 

 the dissemination of impure queens. There 

 being such a diversity of opinion among 

 practical apiarists and queen breeders, we 

 therefore recommend the adoption of the 

 following resolution, viz : Resolved, That 

 each queen-breeder desiring the patronage 

 of the bee-keeping public accompany his 

 advertisement with what he considers "a 

 standard of purity," and that he permit noth- 

 ing to leave his apiary but what fully comes 

 up the advertised standard. If the senti- 

 ment of this resolution is carried out fully, 

 the purchaser of queens with the standard 

 of purity before him, (together with the 

 reputation of the breeder), lie may have the 

 assurance that he will be fairly dealt with 

 and obtain what is desired. If we wish to 

 improve on color or productiveness by 

 crossing, we have the information, to aid us 

 in our selection, and if " beautiful princess- 

 es" are desired, wecan unhesitatingly refer 

 you to "friend Alley," and if honey produc- 

 tion is the object, we can, with the same 

 assurance, refer to our old friend, Charles 

 Dadant. 



The president then read the following 

 essay on queen rearing and the improvement 

 of the honey bee, which, after discussion, 

 was adopted : 



Gentlemen of the Convention .-—Having 

 been requested by a correspondent of the 

 American Bee Journal and other visi- 

 tors to give for publication my process of 

 rearing queens and bees,andhow to improve 

 them, 1 submit the following for the con- 

 sideration and criticism of this Convention. 

 I prefer criticism at home, and if this com- 

 munication will be of any advantage to 

 apiculture, and tend to the improvement of 

 the honey bee, it is at your disposal. 



The production of honey and wax is the 

 object of the apiarist. Hence we should 

 breed to attain this object. To do this we 

 must improve on those characteristics of 

 the honey bee that will lead us to the end 

 desired. The first essential is prolificness, 

 to enable us to obtain a sufficient number of 

 bees at the time they can be made the most 

 useful. The second, that of industry and 

 ability as honey gatherers. Third, gentle- 

 ness for convenience in handling, and, final- 

 ly, color of beauty is desired. With the 

 foregoing traits of character in view, I ex- 

 perimented for three years with the native 

 black and the Italian bee. 1 found the Ital- 

 ian so far superior that I abandoned the 



blacks entirely. The Italians possess the 

 ability to protect themselves from the rava- 

 ges of the moth miller, and also to gather 

 honey from the blossoms of the red clover, 

 in which characteristic the blacks are de- 

 ficient. The last season, with one hundred 

 and fifty colonies of Italians, I have had less 

 trouble with moths than formerly with one 

 colony of blacks. In August last my Italians 

 were storing honey from red clover when 

 the blacks were not gathering enough for 

 daily consumption. 



In raising queens, I select a strong,healthy 

 colony, especially strong in young bees, and 

 remove the queen. The next day, or as 

 soon as queen-cells begin to develop, 1 re- 

 move all the combs containing eggs or un- 

 capped larvse. I then select comb contain- 

 ing eggs only, from my best colony (usually 

 from imported stock), and place it in this 

 queenless colony, prepared as above. I aim 

 to have my young queens hatch out on the 

 fourteenth or fifteenth day. The tenth or 

 twelfth day I divide this colony,and prepare 

 as many more colonies by dividing strong 

 ones as is necessary for the number of 

 queens wanted. The thirteenth or four- 

 teenth day I give to each colony thus pre- 

 pared a queen cell. I then keep watch of the 

 cells till the queen comes out. If well de- 

 veloped, with good wings, I mark the date of 

 hatching; if faulty, I destroy her and give the 

 colony another cell, or join it with another 

 weak colony. As soon as my queens come 

 out I select my colonies containing drones, 

 with which 1 desire to mate ray young 

 queens. If there is not a good flow of honey, 

 I stimulate by feeding warm honey or sugar 

 syrup to those hives containing drones, also 

 those containing young queens. I usually 

 put a few selected drones in the same hive 

 with virgin queens. When my young 

 queens are three days old I close the 

 entrances of my hives containing selected 

 drones and those containing virgin queens, 

 to prevent egress of drones or queens. I 

 generally do this about 11 o'clock a.m., or 

 before the drones take their daily flight, 

 which usually occurs about 12 to 1 p.m. 

 Watch carefully their return, and when they 

 are all in, let out your virgin queens, giving 

 them a few minutes time to make observa- 

 tions regarding locality, then release your 

 drones ; do this daily until all are fertilized. 

 If the weather is favorable and your bees 

 properly stimulated, you will seldom fail in 

 having your queens fertilized by the fifth 

 day. The points gained in the process are : 

 First— By selecting eggs from choice colo- 

 nies your bees have the full time allotted 

 for the perfect development of the queen 

 bee. Second— By giving stimulating food 

 during their virginity you have the most 

 perfect development in growth. Third — 

 You can select you drones from good blood 

 with the same care that you select the blood 

 of the queen, which is equally or more im- 

 portant. In general, from the female we 

 look for form, gentleness, activity and color* 

 from the male, energy, industry, ability and 

 longevity. In conclusion, 1 will give the 

 results of a few experiments in 1875, with 

 1 colony of Italians and 13 colonies of blacks 

 in the same yard, with 15 blacks within 

 about 50 rods south and 8 or 10 more in a 

 radius of % mile. I reared 7 Italian queens 



