THE AMERICA Hi APICULTURIST. 



183 



breed a slraiu of bees adapted to our pur- 

 poses. 



"What is a bee ffood for like the Caniio- 

 lans that soiui out swarms ami afterswanns 

 iu an unlimited number at least containim^ 

 a dozen and more young queens and about 

 two dozen worker bees? (I have seen 

 such afterswarms not quite as large as a 

 child's tist.) Mixing this race with a good 

 strain of bees on the one side, and every 

 year inventing another management to 

 prevent swarming is merely nonsense. 

 These bees are very good for their loca- 

 tion and for certain purposes, but uot for 

 American apiaries. 



Further I know, and proved it too, that 

 the Italians are better honey carriers than 

 the black bees (at least better than our 

 black bees). I had them side by side 

 during a couple of years, and the hybrids 

 are as good for working quality as the 

 pure Italian, but not better. But to get 

 hybrids I want some pure Italiaus to breed 

 from and will get hybrids more than I 

 want by themselves. If I breed from the 

 hybrids without later selections I have 

 black bees, .with the same bad working 

 quality again very soon. I know what I 

 talk about, I have tried it. 



It is proved that the Italian bee can be 

 bred by careful selection to a more yellow 

 color; in the other direction the same bee 

 can be bred to a dark colored one. I thiidc 

 this is proof enough, that the Italian is no 

 fixed race, but a cross of two races, that 

 may be more than one thousand years old. 

 If we breed a race or strain of bees by 

 crossing or selection, we can keep this 

 race by constant and careful selection 

 only; and the same bees coming to other 

 circumstances will lose their characteris- 

 tics in a few generations. 



So it seems very improbable to breed a 

 fixed race for any purpose. The best way 

 will be all the time to select from the best 

 stocks and we can improve our bees as 

 long as we select ; and shall go backward if 

 we stop selecting. 



Selma, Bexar Co., Texas, Nov. 28, 1887. 



Facts and Apparent Facts. 



G. W. Dk.mareb. 



Therk is such a thing as " too much 

 learning." Dr. Tinker's answer to the 

 queries of Mrs. W. O. Calkins, on page 

 143, Julyissueof API, is handsomely done, 

 and is very comprehensive to the thor- 

 oughly posted, but for the beginner in the 

 mysteries of the inner life of the bee, it 

 reminds me of the story of the great south- 

 ern evangelist, Sam Joxks. A pious old 

 colored brother visited his pastor in his 

 study and found him preparing his ser- 

 mon with" six books opened before him." 



The old colored man was amazed at the 

 array of learning brouglit to view, and 

 stammered out, " Ef you lake dat sermon 

 from d(Mn six books yon am goiii' to put 

 de foildiu" too higii, sail." Dr. Tinker has 

 put the fodder too high for the average 

 beginner. There are l)ut two kinds or 

 sizes of cells composing the honey comb, 

 called worker and drone cells. There are 

 practically twenty-live worker cells to the 

 s(inare inch of honey coini). on each side 

 of the septum, or centre wall between the 

 basics of the cells, while drone comb con- 

 tains but sixteen cells to the square inch 

 on each side of the septum. Now it will 

 be seen that the smallest sized cells of 

 which the honey comb is com|)osed are 

 the worker cells, and the largest size are 

 the drone cells. 



The two kinds or sizes of cells are 

 never builded promiscuously together, but 

 each size is built in separate groups. So 

 when you examine a sheet of honey comb 

 it may be composed of part worker cells 

 and part drone cells in any imaginable 

 proportion, or the whole shfct may be 

 made up of the one or the other size of 

 cell complete. So it will be seen that we 

 must learn to distinguish the two kinds of 

 cells, one from the other, by their com- 

 parative size of the one to the other. The 

 worker cells being the smallest of the two 

 standard sizes of cell, we know them at a 

 glance as soon as we have practice enough 

 to carry the two standard sizes in our 

 mind. This is positively necessary as it 

 is impracticable to have the two sizes to- 

 gether at all times to make the compar- 

 ison. 



AVorker cells are used by the bees to 

 rear worker bees in, and also to store 

 away honey and bee bread (pollen). The 

 drone cells are used to store honey in, and 

 to rear drones in, in their season. One 

 of the greatest triumphs of modern bee 

 culture is found in the ability of the apia- 

 rist, by means of foundation to exclude 

 all drone comb from the brood-nest, ex- 

 cept what is absolutely necessary to fur- 

 nish drones for breeding purposes. Queen 

 cells are no part of the honey comb, they 

 are nothing more than adjuncts to the 

 combs when it becomes necessary to rear 

 queens preparatory to swarming, or in 

 case of superseding old queens, etc. The 

 bees remove them when they have served 

 their purpose. 



Queen cells are easily distinguished 

 from the two standard sized cells because 

 they appear as adjuncts to tiie comb, and 

 are usually as large as the little finger 

 and half as long, and their protruding 

 ends point downwards, which features 

 make the queen cells very unlike the hor- 

 izontal standard cells. It may look to the 

 old " bosses " like a waste of time to write 

 in this strain, but I know how perplexing 



