23S 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



December 



All cheap queens are not inferior, 

 but facilities and care necessary for 

 the production of good queens are 

 expensive. 



And now, we have to bid an 

 eternal farewell, not alone to the 

 old year, but as well to the century 

 of our birth, and that of modern 

 bee-keeping. 



In considering the merits of 

 stock, color should be the last to 

 receive attention. "Handsome is 

 that handsome does," very fittingly 

 expresses the matter. "Beauty is 

 iDut skin deep.'' 



If a queen is found to be incap- 

 able of keeping her colony up to 

 the standard, better pinch her and 

 turn the combs over to a queen 

 that will make profitable use of 

 them. 



Do not condemn a queen because 

 some or all the workers which 

 accompany her through the mails 

 are not marked according to your- 

 liking. They may be no relation 

 to her. 



An abundant yield of nectar in 

 the flowers avail eth nothing withr 

 out bees to gather it. The extent 

 of the working force depends more 

 lai'gely upon the prolificacy of the 

 queen than upon all else. 



Ihe purity of a queen is not told 

 l)y any markings of her own, as 



one of our correspondents appears 



to think, bi;t by the markings of , 

 her progeny. Neither is one or 

 two bands on a drone any index of 

 impure blood. 



Drones, it is said, to be of ser- 

 vice, must reach a certain age. 

 Now, who will enlighten us as to 

 the minimum limit? In rearing 

 queens early in the season, know- 

 ledge on this point might prove of 

 value. 



In the Bee-keepevH ReHtio for Oc- 

 tober is chronicled the death of 

 Editor Hutchinson's father, aged 

 8ii years; while the Western Apiary 

 for that month mourns the death of 

 Mrs. C. H. Gordon, wife of the 

 editor. The Bee-keeper condoles 

 with Brothers Hutchinson and 

 Gordon in their sorrow. 



' It is with feelings of sincere 

 gratitude toward our many readers 

 who, by their contribution, prompt 

 remittances, kind words to our- 

 selves and others, and in many 

 other ways, have aided us in oui- 

 earnest effort to give them an 

 interesting and instructive bee- 

 paper, that the publishers and the 

 editor of The American Bee- 

 keeper join in extending to each 

 and every one their best wishes for 

 a Merry Christmas and a Happy 

 New Year. 



Mr. Will Ward Mitchell, who has 

 long been associated with the Pro- 

 gressire Bti-kceper, has assumed 

 the role of editor of that journal. 

 Mr. Mitchell, during the occasional 

 temporary absence of Editor Leahy, 

 has in the past demonstrated his 

 ability in the line of his new work, 

 cind while we regret the retirement 

 of Mr. Leahy from the editorial 

 chair of our esteemed contempor- 

 ary, we wish and bespeak for his 

 successor great- success. 



