THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



45 



J. A. Green — I think I do. 



C. F. IIo|)kins — If the honey 

 stored in old combs is of an infe- 

 rior character, why is not extracted 

 honey stored in old combs of a 

 poorer qualitv? 



J.- A. Green — If the sections 

 were left upon the hives as long as 

 are combs of extracted honey, it 

 probably would be ; but the sections 

 are removed as soon as finished, 

 and the honey is more inclined to 

 sweat when stored in old combs. 



II. W. Funk — The reason prob- 

 ably is, that honey stored in deep 

 cells is not so quickl}' and 

 thoroughly ripened. 



H. W. Funk — If comb honey is 

 properly kept will it ever granu- 

 late? 



N. N. Betsinger — No, never. 



[Yon are mistiikon Mr. B. We know that 

 some honey will granulate, no matter how 

 well eared Vor.] 



Joshua Bull — I have some honey 

 that was stored last year, in old 

 combs, and it has not yet granu- 

 lated ; while some that was stored 

 this year in newly-built combs is 

 candied solid. All this is caused 

 by the character of tlie iioney. 



A. I. Root — In using combs, the 

 cells are deep, and the honey does 

 not ripen so quickly as wiien the 

 cells are filled as they are drawn. 



[A pretty good point, Brother Root.] 



The American Apiculturist. 



I'lihl talked Monthly. 



A LAND OF Mii-K ANi> HONKY, liter- 

 ally, is Aroostook county, Maine, so 

 far as I had an o|iportniiit,y to see it. 

 A farm house witliout beehives is al- 

 most as rare as a farmhouse witliout a 

 barn; and at their pleasant fi:ran<!;e 

 spreads, tlie bread from home-raised 

 wheat, the iiilt-edged butter, and de- 

 licious honey, were prominent and 

 toothsome features, Ion j? to be remem- 

 bered. Beekeeping; is not nejilected 

 by any of the Aroostook farmers, and 

 they evidently are not afraid to put 

 the tiest of their products on their own 

 tables. The man who sells the best 

 of everything and feeds iiimself and 

 family on "seconds" is not the liighest 

 type of a farmer. — Letter in Neic Eng- 

 land Farmer. 



MANAGER, 



TERMS: $1.00 PER YEAR. 

 Wenham, Mass., Feb. 1, 1888. 



THE MAN'AGER'S CORNER. 



Traffic in Virgin Queens.— Dr. Tinker 

 stated in a i-ei'ent article in tlie Apr that, in 

 his opinion, there would be a large trade in 

 virgin queens. This is one of the iioints on 

 which we cannot agree with the Doctor. 

 Tliere may be some trading in virgin queens 

 between dealers, but such business cannot 

 become general as veiy few peo|)!e who keep 

 bees can successfully introduce virgin queens. 

 Tliis fact alone would kill tlie traffii;. We 

 cannot see where the benefit would be in such 

 practice, notwithstamling Dr. Tinker so 

 plainly gave his views upon this point. The 

 fact that a virgin queen was purchased a long 

 distance from one aptary would not insure 

 pure fertilization in another apiary though it 

 would prevent in-breeding. 



One who wilt rear queens and permit in- 

 breeding is not a person who conducts his 

 ajiinry \ipon scientific pi'inciples. 



While some dealers in queens exchange 

 queens to prevent in-breeding, we have no 

 trouble in that respect in the Bay S'ate api- 

 ary, as by the proper use of the drone-and, 

 queen trap, we can mate our queens to any 

 males we choose, an<( when mated we know 

 that all are purely fertilized and in no case 

 ill-bred. 



We have bred queens from one mother 

 three years in succession and never saw a 

 drone from her. This can be done only in 

 one way, that is, by removing the breeding 

 queen from a full colonj' to a small hive, early 

 in May. Of course, a careful recorcl is kept 

 of such queens as well as of all others in the 

 apiary, or else in-breeding would be ilone to 

 some extent. 



We have always made it a practice to pur- 

 chase Italian queens from distant apiaries for 

 no other jiurpose than to prevent in-breeding. 

 We think that most of those of whom we pur- 

 chased them must have mateil their queens 

 by using the drones from pure mothers fertil- 

 ized by impure drones, as nearly all the 

 queens we have ever i)urchased, including 

 imported cues, have proved to be hybrids. 



