THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



13 



prominent trait, then the drones of 

 such colon}' should be bred from 

 tind the working quality will pass 

 on through the line of drones ; but 

 the disposition will be sure to go 

 with them and lose nothing of the 

 original fire. 



It has been said, or at least in- 

 ferred, that one cannot breed for 

 beauty and good working qualities 

 at the same time. I say that we 

 can, for some of the best working 

 colonies I have seen produced the 

 largest and most beautiful drones. 

 My best stock the past season that 

 produced the most comb honey, 

 bred such drones, having also 

 wings of remarkable length and 

 breadth. The drones of this stock 

 will be taken to my isolated mat- 

 ing station next season. 



The best time to rear queens is 

 any time when the bees are in- 

 clined to rear drones, or from the 

 fifteenth of May until the twenti- 

 eth of August in this localit}'. 



The coming bee will be a cross 

 bred bee developed from Syrian 

 or Cyprian mother stock. The 

 cross will be with Italian drones. 



The best queens will be reared 

 by the natural method, or one so 

 near like it that it may be termed 

 a natural method. A lery com- 

 mon, unnatural method and one 

 that produces the poorest, average 

 queens, especially' when no nectar 

 is coming in, is where a comb of 

 just-hatcliing brood is transferred 

 from the breeding stock to a 

 queenless stock. The bees recog- 

 nize that the brood is not their 

 own and refuse to feed the royal 

 foster larvae as they should. If a 

 drought prevails, they will tear 

 down every cell soon after it is fin- 

 ished in many cases, but under like 

 conditions bees that rear queens 

 from their own brood, on their own 

 combs, will not destroy their cells, 

 and they will hatch out fair-sized 

 queens, while the foster queens, 

 reared as above, that ma}- be spared 



to hatch, will be small and worth- 

 less. 



To rear fine queens out of season 

 and at an unfavorable time, take 

 from a colony its queen. In three 

 days thereafter take out the larvte 

 from the formed queen cells and in- 

 troduce in their place small larvie 

 (as they lay in the worker cells not 

 larger than one-sixteenth o'f an inch 

 across) froin the best breeding 

 stock. The bees fail to recognize 

 the change made, and as the larvae 

 get a big start in the ro3'al food in 

 the cells, they make the largest 

 queens it is possible to produce. 



ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



The same general rules which ap- 

 ply to successful breeding of domes- 

 tic animals, will apply to the breeding 

 of bees. But when we look about 

 us we are prepared to see that nature's 

 laws are not as narrow as are the minds 

 of some men, as though confined be- 

 tween two great walls, the one on the 

 right and the other on the left. So 

 fiir as fundamental principles are con- 

 cerned, induction into life is by one 

 and the same law. But in the econ- 

 omy of nature there is a wonderful 

 diversity, and this diversity is without 

 contrariety. In the economy of 

 higher animal life as a rule, the male 

 is stronger and more powerful in con- 

 stitution than is the female'. This is 

 so striking to every observer that 

 common consent accords to the male 

 the greater influence in the way of 

 transmission of the stronger traits to 

 the offspring. But the question arises, 

 Can we judge bees by this rule ? In 

 the economy of the bee hive, the 

 drone or male bee is a mere '"figure 

 head," so far as character is con- 

 cerned. He has but one office, and 

 that is to aid in the propagation of 

 the race. 



He has no weapons of defence, 

 therefore cannot aid in defending the 

 common interest of the colony. He 

 cannot be of material use to the 

 thriving family in the spring, because 



