1900 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



:u 



work is in the interest of American bee- 

 keepers, our field for the gleaning of 

 knowledge and information for them is 

 the wide, wide world. 



WKITIXC, I'OR PUIUJCVTION. 



A recent nuin])er of tlie Ameri -an Bee 

 Journal has this editorial paragraph which 

 we consider so thoroughly to the point 

 and tersely put that we ])rint it entirely: 



"We are always glad to publish the 

 good thinsrs that our subscribers send in, 

 drawn from their actual work among the 

 bees. Many a little short cut or kink 

 that you use would help .some other bee- 

 keeper if you would write it out and send 

 it in for your bee-paper to publish. We 

 do not ask this as would a beggar, but 

 simply suggest that as you have been 

 helped by the writings and experiences 

 of others, it is no more than fair that you 

 should contribute your share as a slight 

 token of your appreciation of the aid you 

 have received from those who have been 

 glad to give what they could to make your 

 efforts more successful in the apiary." 



Whispering a very solemn amen. The 

 Bee-Keeper takes the lloor just to add that 

 the bee-keeper who puts his quill to paper 

 onl}' for the meager j>ay derived from the 

 publisher of his articles, immediately and 

 directly, is lacking in the one element 

 mo.st essential to the attainment of success 

 in his business. 



The rapid strides made in the science 

 and practice of bee-keeping during the 

 lialf century just past, and the present 

 great proportions of the industry, are con- 

 ditions largely due to the fraternal feeling 

 and unsellish interest taken in its develop- 

 ment l)y many of its promoters. A broad 

 conception of the importance of the work 

 before us is essential to the success of our 

 industry, and the bee-papers afford a 

 medium through which, by mutual ex- 

 change, the producers' ideal may be 

 evolved. It brin.iis to the bee-keepers' 

 home and fireside each month a "conven- 

 tion" of those actively engaged in 

 the same work — -a "convention" in which 



he is invited to participate, and to which 

 his aid and support are justly due. 



Let us have a more general response to 

 our repeated requests for the ideas of our 

 readers upon matters affecting our bus- 

 iness. It is the bee keepers themselves, 

 not the editor, that would profit by such 

 a generous flow of ideas, though we are 

 always pleased to examine manuscripts 

 and to pay, when desired by the con- 

 tributor, for any original articles of ex- 

 ceptional m erit that we can use. 



.SUPHKIOR STOCK. 



J. F. Mclntyre, one of the nio-t exten- 

 sive producers of honey on the Pacific 

 coast, relates, in Gleanings, some exper- 

 iences and observations which forcibly 

 set forth the great advantages gained 

 through the development by selection of 

 good working stock. With reference to a 

 certain queen which he had purchased 

 some seven years previously he says: 



"I raised about twenty queens from this 

 one to test the stock. The next season 

 was a dry one, and nuxst bees had to be 

 fed to keep them a'ive; but several colonies 

 out of the twenty filled their supers with 

 honey. Next season. 1S95. I bred from 

 the best of these; and in 1.S96, which was 

 another dry year, this strain again filled 

 their supers when others were starving. 

 I have had many colonies of this strain 

 which I considered ideal bees, and I think 

 they have been improved by breeding 

 from the very best each year. The pre- 

 sent year (1899) was a very drv one but 

 I have one colony of this strain that filled 

 two and one-half supers; and f wrote in 

 my record-book, after the number of this 

 liive, that such bees woul^ make a man 

 rich. Thev are beautiful, pure Italians, 

 light three-banded, queen large and 

 yellow, and very prolific I have raised 

 about 200 young queens from her, and 

 they are all like their mother. Her 

 bees are jrentle. She was one year old 

 la.st Julv, and has never swarmed; and 

 this strain does not swarm half as much as 

 any other strain in my apiary. It is rare 



