42 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPEJi. 



Mdi'ch 



quickl)- anywhere else as it will in the 

 old place. 



COLOR BREEDING. 



On page 26. W. H. Pridgen uses these 

 words. "Although much is being said 

 against breeding for color it is evident 

 that those who condemn it are guilty of 

 the same to the extent of keeping up their 

 chosen standard." Here is a point that 

 the advocates of the dark or leather 

 colored Italians have ignored entirely in 

 all of this breeding for color controversy. 

 I claim that the dark Italians have been 

 just as much injured by in and-in breed- 

 ing as have the light or golden Italians. 

 In fact, I have had far more worthless 

 bees of the dark strain than I have of the 

 goldens, and I know of no way of account- 

 ing for it except that they have been bred 

 too closely toward the dark. All should 

 strive to infuse new "blood" into their 

 apiaries as often as every two or three 

 years, where they are breeding closely 

 along any line. Bro. P. is quite right in 

 believing that we cannot well breed along 

 any desired line for a term of years 

 except we are guided more largely from 

 the color stand-point than from any other, 

 for all breeders know that very little, if 

 any, headway, can be made by taking 

 a colony of what are called '"hustlers," 

 which came from no definite pedigree, 

 and trying to secure the desired traits 

 from them, by any selection which can be 

 made, regardless of color. As Bro. P. 

 well says, the queen to give any definite 

 good results "must be a thoroughbred." 

 And the thoroughbred part is very largely 

 a myth, only as it is known from the 

 color standpoint. And for this reason 

 there can be no truer assertion than that 

 made by Bro. P. when he .says "As long 

 as bees are kept, color will be one of the 

 main points in making a .selection for 

 breeding purposes." And he who argues 

 to the contrary, shows that he has not 

 looked into this breeding problem as 

 closely, and as deeply as he might. 

 KNOWLEDGE Ol" OUR LOCALITY. 



G. W. Demaree, in finishing up his 



article, on page 28 says, "profits from the 

 apiary nuist depend largely on the .skill 

 of the apiarist; especially his knowledge 

 of the resources of his locality." If every 

 reader of The Bee-Keeper will ponckr 

 over that thought till it is fairly 'burnt'd ' 

 into the mind, he or she will not regret 

 the paltry fifty cents they paid for this 

 paper for the year 1900. Right here is 

 where the larger part of the would-be bee- 

 keepers fail. They do all of their work 

 in the dark as it were, guessing when the 

 harvest of honey is likely to occur, in- 

 .stead oi knoiving to a certainty y« 5/ what 

 flowers produce a surplus, 2i\\^just when 

 those flowers may be expected to open so 

 as to invite the bees to a .suriiptuous 

 feast. The very first work any person is 

 to do who contemplates keeping bees, or 

 who has bees already, but has paid no 

 attention to these matters, is to secure a 

 thorough knowledge of the time and 

 source of the blossoms which give a 

 yield of nectar. But I think I hear some 

 one saying, how can I secure this know- 

 ledge? Very simple matter, but it will 

 take some time. When you find the bees 

 coming in with honey, enough so that the 

 combs are beginning to grow white along 

 the top bars of the frames, by the cells 

 being lengthened out with new wax, then 

 it is time for you to follow the bees to the 

 flowers which are giving this honey or 

 nectar. Go out to the apiary and care- 

 fully walk all around it, walking out ten 

 or more rods from any hives, listening in- 

 tently as you walk, when you will soon 

 find in which direction the bees are going 

 by the .sound. Now look into the air, 

 shading the eyes with the hands, if the 

 day is clear, when you will soon see the 

 course the "multitudes are traveling," 

 and having thus seen, "follow the multi- 

 tudes," the same as you would any multi- 

 tude going to a show, and after a little 

 you will hear the "merry laughter" as the 

 bees hover about on the flowers which 

 are yielding their sweets to those odor 

 invited guests. Having found this out, 

 make a minute of the flowers, and date of 

 their being visited by the beee, which 



