80 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



were quiet. Saw no bees out, ex- 

 cept from this liive, from Nov. 15 

 to Feb. 17; at wliich latter date, 

 all had a good fliglit, and all in fine 

 condition. 



On Feb. 13, so many bees came 

 out from the uneasy colony, that I 

 set my wits to work to give them 

 a flight. I have a long, low, nar- 

 row, summer-kitchen, with only 

 one window, which is atone end of 

 the room, there being a cook-stove 

 at the other end. I first nailed 

 white cotton-cloth closel3f and 

 firm]}', all over the window. Then, 

 with cotton cloth, partitioned off a 

 room three feet wide enclosing the 

 window. Arranged the cloth so 

 that I could raise or lower it, like 

 curtains, to regulate the heat. 

 Brought in the hive, and placed it 

 on a box, close to the window. 

 Took tlie lower half or so, of an 

 old, white cloth curtain, still con- 

 taining its strip of wood in the 

 hem, and sevved it across the cloth 

 which was nailed over the window, 

 letting tlie hem, containing the 

 strip of wood, rest directly on the 

 top of the hive, from which I had 

 already removed the cover ; then 

 turned up the blankets suffi- 

 ciently to form an entrance. Then, 

 warmed up the room slowly, and 

 the bees ha.l a perfect flight. When 

 they began to think of getting back 

 to the hive, I opened an outside 

 door slightly, and they quickly set 

 up a call, and after a little, all were 

 safely and comfortably back in the 

 hive. I picked up, perhaps a 

 dozen, from the floor, and heli)ed 

 them in. They left scarcely a spot 

 on the white cloth. Cooled off the 

 room slowly, and finally took the 

 hive into the vegetable cellar, where 

 we go often during the day. They 

 have since been absolutely quiet. 



Wiiy have they been so restless 

 all winter, when so free from dis- 

 ease? The colony is quite heavy ; 

 but, certainly, not too much so, nor 

 so heavy as some others. 



Now I have my hospital estab- 

 lished, and feel no more terror of 

 bees dying for want of a flight. 



We have had three cold waves, 

 when the glass indicated 32° below. 

 Nothing like it here, before this 

 winter, in my experience. 



Bees in the cellar were never in 

 finer condition. 



Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



NEW RACE 

 AND INBREEDING. 



L. Stachelhausen. 



How to get a new race of bees 

 superior to an}^ of the present 

 races, has for many years been an 

 important question, but everything 

 coming before the public on this 

 matter is more or less conjecture 

 and no real fact. If we wish to breed 

 a new race, some important ques- 

 tions will arise at once : 



1. Can the queen and drones 

 transmit the good and bad charac- 

 teristics to their progeny? 



2. Will every daughter-queen 

 have the same characteristics or 

 only some of tliem ? 



3. If only a few queens of the 

 progeny show the favored charac- 

 teristics, can the same by repeated 

 selection be made constant or fixed, 

 and how many generations will it 

 take to get this result? 



4. Which characteristics are 

 transmitted by the drone, and 

 which by the queen? 



5. What influence has in-and-in 

 breeding, and in how many gener- 

 ations will appear the expected 

 evil? 



Many other questions could be 

 asked, but 1 think the foregoing are 

 the most important, and every prac- 

 tical beekeeper will know that it 

 is dilficult enough to answer these 

 questions, not by theory but by 



