1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



161 



formly. You can then handle and 

 shake bees without killing them or 

 endangering the life of the queen. 



$200 QUEENS ARE NO MORE. 



The following is from Gleanings 

 for July 1 . 



" In the American Bee-keeper, 

 which has reached me on the fly, I 

 see that Editor Hill has replied to 

 the editorial on page 476 of Glean- 

 ings regarding the matter of high 

 values on queens. While I ditfer 

 on many of his points, there is one 

 on which I feel constrained to acqui- 

 esce, viz., that if one owner of some 

 really valuable queen places a high 

 value on her, other breeders, per- 

 haps less scrupulous, may jDut 

 equal or higher values on breeders 

 comparatively mediocre or even 

 poor. As the matter is liable to 

 abuse, we have decided to place no 

 values on breeders which we pro- 

 pose to keep and will not sell. But 

 queens from such choice stock, best 

 we have, we may hold all the way 

 from $10 to $25." 



It is a matter of no surprise or 

 displeasure to us to note that Editor 

 Root holds ideas different from our 

 own in regard to many points noted 

 on page 119 of The Bee-keeper for 

 June. It is every man's right to 

 freely exercise his own reasoning 

 faculties; and, surely, no man is 

 responsible for the extent of the 

 weight which certain evidence may 

 have in convincing him upon any 

 matter, nor for the effect which cer- 

 tain arguments may have in dis- 

 placing his pre-established convic- 

 tions. It is gratifying, however, 

 to note that, as a result of our 

 efforts to point out the injustice of 

 the practice of advertising such 

 fabulous valuation in queens, the 

 practice is to be discontinued by 

 the originators. This is not the 

 first instance in which Mr. Root 

 has proven himself willing and 



ready to acknowledge an error when 

 it has been pointed out to him. It 

 is only through such acts of candor 

 that unquestionable honesty of pur- 

 pose is revealed and established. 

 With an indirect reference to an 

 instance quite different to the one 

 in question, the Bee Keepers' Review 

 recently published this paragraph: 



"Own up like a man, if you are 

 beaten in an argument. It's the 

 manly thing to do, and raises you 

 in the esteem of honorable men. 

 When an opponent does this, the 

 victor feels like grasping him by 

 the hand — there comes over him a 

 feeling that 'here is a man who 

 would rather be right than victori- 

 ous.' " 



That paragraph would have been 

 a credit to any of the old philoso- 

 phers; and it is pleasant to note 

 that the spirit of its teachings is 

 appreciated by some, at least, of 

 those who engage in public discus- 

 sion of questions relating to our 

 pursuit. 



THERE are no QUEEN-BREEDERS. 



Speaking of in-breeding, Arthur 

 C. Miller in American Bee Journal 

 says: "It is the chief reliance of the 

 skilled breeder for intensifying de- 

 sirable tendencies." This, however, 

 is but one paragraph out of many 

 pages recently published in apicul- 

 tural Journals which go to show 

 that the world's queen-breeders are, 

 generally, a lot of ignoramuses. In 

 fact, the question has been point- 

 edly asked, "Are there any queen- 

 breeders?" and, by inference, the 

 response, from the labarynthian 

 realm of science and letters, comes 

 quite audibly, "Not that we know 

 of." 



The Bee Keepers' Reviexo has the 

 nerve to tackle the subject; and, to 

 the end that it shall be radically 

 discussed, has gone out among 

 breeders of other blooded stock for 



