1901) 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



27 



long-lived and produce gentle, indust- 

 rious workers. One that comes up to 

 these classifications can be relied upon 

 to impart, in varying degrees, the same 

 qualities to her offspring, and especially 

 if handed down for a number of genera- 

 tions, and will become nearer and 

 nearer fixed with each successive one. 



Perfection in de- 



velopment and 

 quality usually go 

 together, though in 

 rare instances ap- 

 parently poorly de- 

 veloped (jueens are 

 not lacking in qual- 

 ity, while others on 

 which nature does 

 her best, from all 



PKincKX. 



I 



appearances, are 

 worthless. 



The occasional introduction of ,new 

 "blood is recouiniended to prevent degen- 

 eration, whicli usually carries with it the 

 5 ropeusitv to sting in proportion to the 

 improvement in business qualities, even if 

 it be the same .strain from a distant family, 

 Avhile color, once well establi.shed, 

 moves smoothly on. For this reason it is 

 harder to combine the best working 

 qualities with good temper, as a rule, than 

 with color. 



It is agreed that hybriiU will not do to 

 !)reed from, if fixed characteristics and 

 permanent improvements are the ends in 

 view, and the writer at least, does not 

 know how to determine the purity of 

 «tock without making color play its 

 part, unless the test be carried to the 

 second generation where the mixed 

 blood invariably crops out if present, 

 regardless of the mating of the young 

 queens, Irom such a mother, and even 

 then color is the main factor. 



Usually when one advises again.st 

 breeding for color he has chosen a well 

 fixed type as to color, and of course has 

 less trouble in getting the color of his 

 standard combined with other desirable 

 qualities than does the man who is breed- 

 ing a strain in which this type is not well 



fixed, but he does not place much value 

 on a queen unless her progeny comes up 

 to his standard in color. 



Of course, when the ideal bee of fixed 

 characteristics is reached, there will be 

 nothing more to strive for, but until then 

 many will lend their efforts and energies 

 in the direction of beauty, and work 

 harder than any other class to improve 

 the strain of their choice, ina.smuch as 

 the greater variations lend enchantment 

 and make the work the more interesting. 



If it is true that other qualities are lack- 

 ing where there is much color every one 

 can make his own selection. 



I am not saying anything against any 

 particular race but am puzzled to know 

 how color is to be overlooked in making 

 the selection, even if one wants to breed 

 sitnon blacks. 



Creek, N. C, Jan. 5. 1900. 



The Production of Honey for Profit. 



RV G. W. nEM.-\REK. 



bHE question as to which of the two 

 marketable clas.ses of honey — ■ 

 -^'^ honey in the comb, or honey se- 

 parated fiMin the comb with the honey 

 extractor — is the mo.st profitable to the 

 producer, is more generally di.scussed, 

 perhaps, by writers on profitable bee- 

 keeping, than any other like question 

 pertaining to the business. And yet it 

 occurs to me that the question has not 

 been probed to the bottom in all these 

 years. 



The cost of prorluction, cost of market- 

 ing, amount of each class produced, com- 

 parative price, etc., are points that have 

 been prettv well covered by the mnnerous 

 writers on the subject. But looking at the 

 question as I do. one of the great — if not 

 the greatest — considerations has been 

 overlooked when discussing this subject. 

 I refer to locality of the apiary. If every 

 locality was precisely the same in honey 

 resources, and seasons of "honey flow'' 

 between March and November, then the 

 question might be practically decided for 

 all honey producers. Let me illustrate 



