U2 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



August 



information. Mr. F. B. Simpson, 

 a noted breeder of cattle and horses, 

 of Cuba, N. Y., contributes a long 

 article upon the subject in the June 

 number of the Review^ all of which 

 is very interesting to the scientific 

 student; but, we believe, very little 

 of it appeals to the ordinary keeper 

 of bees. Mr. Simpson, in substance, 

 says the breeding of other stock is 

 quite dissimilar to the breeding of 

 bee.s, and endeavors to explain that 

 the frequent references to how and 

 what has been accomplished in his 

 line are not parallel to bee-breeding, 

 and therefore insignificant. Mr. 

 Simpson thinks a college education 

 a pre-requisite to successful queen- 

 breeding. He further says that he 

 does not believe we will ever get 

 any really conclusive knowledge in 

 regard to the effects of in-breeding, 

 as applied to bees, except by actually 

 breeding the bees; the more so from 

 the fact that we have nothing in 

 the nature of domesticated animals 

 which forms any real parallel to the 

 bee. Apparently founding his ideas 

 upon Darwin, in addition to his 

 own observation", Mr. Simpson 

 takes occasion to caution queen - 

 breeders ao;ainst the in-breeding of 

 stock for sale; but only as a matter 

 of experiment until the results have 

 been determined. He emphasizes 

 the point that in-breeding is resort- 

 ed to as a means of intensifying de- 

 sirable qualities only in cases where 

 unrelated stock of desirable char- 

 acteristics is unavailable. 



We have not the space, even if it 

 were a subject of general interest 

 to our subscribers, to follow the 

 discussion closely; but from that 

 which has already appeared, we are 

 hopeful that much good may result 

 along these lines. It is quite evident 

 that "all hands" are very ignorant 

 on the subject in so far as it relates 

 to bees; and we will hazard the 

 prediction that the highest standard 



of excellence is to be secured 

 through careful selection, rather 

 than through intensification by 

 in-and-in breeding. 



The time for the subscription 

 contest expired July 1st and re- 

 sulted as follows, and the prizes 

 await the orders of the winners: 

 First priz'^ — $20.00 worth of sup- 

 plies — to W. H. Pridgen^ Creek, N. 

 C, whose name was on the largest 

 number of cards received. Second 

 prize — $10.00 worth of supplies — 

 to Porter A. M. Feathers, Oak Hill, 

 Fla. Third prize— $5.00 worth of 

 supplies — W. J. Forehand, Fort 

 Deposit, Ala. It is a noticeable fact 

 that the three prizes were won by 

 Southern bee-keepers. 



WHITE CLOVER AND SAAV PALMETTO. 



In the July Bee-keeper we noted 

 the fact that the saw palmetto is to 

 the Florida bee-keeper what white 

 clover is to the Northern producer 

 of honey. Commenting thereon, 

 the Americatt Bee Journal, a publica- 

 tion, by the way, which hails from a 

 white clover section of the country, 

 says: 



"Saw palmetto is an important 

 honey-plant. That same remark 

 about white clover would perhaps 

 elicit a smile of pity, for every one 

 is supposed to know white clover 

 honey. " 



The smile of pity, dear Journal, 

 would be elicited only from those 

 whose conception (if the magnitude 

 of our country and the diversity 

 and extent of its flora was limited 

 to the comparatively small area in 

 which it grows so luxuriantly. 

 There is little doubt that if the Jour- 

 nal's home were situated in the un- 

 reclaimed lands of the Pacific slope, 

 the whole woi'ld would be supposed 

 to know all abou-j sage honey. If 

 it were in the Salt River valley or 

 in certain irrigated districts of Colo- 



