1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



119 



ideas iacubated by the heat of in- 

 experienced enthusiasm. Several 

 years of study and practice will 

 enable the beginner to better un- 

 derstand the deficiencies and to 

 suggest means for their relief. A 

 careful study of modern apicultural 

 history — say back to 1852 — is an 

 excellent introductory course for 

 the studiously inclined who seek to 

 alleviate the needs of the present 

 and to point out the errors of the 

 oli practitioner. Personal experi- 

 menting and the honest expression 

 of ideas are always commendable; 

 but the novice should not feel in- 

 jured in the event of his ideas fail- 

 ing to elicit the enthusiasm of the 

 staid old veterans. 



CO-OPERATIVE QUEEN REARING. 



As it now appears, Mr. J. H. 

 Martin, of California, will be en- 

 titled to the credit of haviiig afford- 

 ed the sensation of the season, in 

 bee-keeping circles. Mr. Martin's 

 progressive idea is to have formed 

 a co-operative queen-supplying em- 

 porium, with an extensive guaran- 

 teed patronage, and placed under 

 the direction of an expert scientific 

 queen breeder; thus reducing the 

 cost of production to a minimum, 

 and insuring stock of the very 

 highest standard of excellence. 

 This ideal queen-rearing apiary 

 would be equipped witti the latest 

 and best of everything essential to 

 the production of the best stock and 

 to facilitate the production of its 

 especial commodity at a cost great- 

 ly reduced over present methods. 

 According to the American Bee 

 Journal^ Mr. J. F. Mclntyre made 

 an estimate that if a breeder could 

 rely upon supplying a sufficiently 

 large number of queens without 

 having to advertise, the queens 

 could be sold at fifteen cents each ; 

 while the members present at the 

 c o n v e n t i o n of California bee- 



keepers, where the plan was launch- 

 ed, were willing to pay twenty-five 

 cents. It was thought that upon 

 this basis five thousand queen^s 

 would be ordered by the bee-keepe.rg 

 of only two counties of that State. 

 Editor York evidently has "an eye 

 to windward '" when he enquires : 

 "Can good queens, such as Mr. 

 Martin's paper calls for, be bred for 

 twenty-five cents each?" This is a 

 question that will agitate other 

 minds before the plan is under- 

 taken. The Journal also states 

 that the bee-keepers present at that 

 convention were willing to place 

 an order for one thousand queens at 

 twenty-five cents each. It is not 

 improbable that, having reasonable 

 assurance of good stock, almost 

 any other small body of honey pro- 

 ducers would evince an equal 

 amount of business sagacity. We 

 would do naug;ht to discourage such 

 a sublime conception. We have 

 great faith in the possibilities of 

 co-operatiou ;■ but our prayer that 

 Mr Martin may live to see his plan 

 in successful operation, we confess, 

 is not backed by the implicit faith 

 which we should be pleased to 

 entertain. 



$200 QUEENS. 



An editorial on page 97, ' May 

 number, referring to fictitious 

 values placed upon queens for ad- 

 vertising purposes, etc , has elicited 

 the attention of our esteemed con- 

 temporary, Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture, to the extent of a solid page 

 in defense of very high-priced stock, 

 and making use of high valuation 

 in advertising. Oar remarks were 

 not of a personal nature, at all; 

 though Editor Root devotes his at- 

 tention largely to the defense of his 

 own action, in placing a valuation 

 of two hundred dollars upon a breed- 

 ing queen, and advertising the fact. 

 Mr. Root evidently thinks the prac- 



