12 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



German, the irascibility of the off- 

 spring will be an average medium of 

 that of the parents, and if these hy- 

 brids inherit (as is usual) the tight- 

 footedness of the Italians they will 

 be the best behaved bees and easiest 

 to handle that can possibly be pro- 

 duced. On the other hand, if they 

 inherit the German tendency to fly 

 about and fall from the combs, you 

 will have the naughty hybrids." 

 These hybrid bees are the pride of 

 comb-honey producers, and I believe 

 that to-day there will be no question 

 regarding their superiority over all 

 other bees (all points considered) 

 were it not for this " naughtiness." 

 This is easily avoided by rearing Ger- 

 man or hybrid queens and crossing 

 them with Italian or hybrid drones, 

 always choosing drones (and queens 

 too when using hybrids) from colo- 

 nies having this fast-footed tendency. 

 If you will observe this one feature 

 and those of good comb-building 

 , and honey-storing qualities, and 

 breed from such stocks only (and 

 you can find plenty of them in an 

 apiary of a hundred colonies), you 

 will soon have the best bees in the 

 world. This is what I believe, and 

 I believe it from years of experience. 

 By the use of full sheets of founda- 

 tion we govern the production of 

 drone comb. We have a dozen or 

 more hives replete with drone comb, 

 and in these hives we keep none but 

 the desired stock. You know we 

 can rear from any mother we choose. 

 Having practised this system for sev- 

 eral years, I need not tell you I am 

 little interested in the question of 

 " Artificial Fertilization." Rear as 

 many queens from a colony as they 

 will give you in perfection. Rear at 

 that time of the year that supplies the 

 natural and necessary conditions. 

 These vary with climate, locality, and 

 peculiarity of seasons. Be a law un- 

 to yourself. Study your business be- 

 fore you attempt to succeed at it. 

 Use tact, as well as talent. 



If you do all this, you will not only 

 produce " Apis Americana" but the 

 best bees known to scientific Api- 

 culture. ■ 



ANSWERS BY DR. TINKER. 



As a rule the drone is prepotent 

 in transmitting loorJcing qualities; 

 the dis2)ositio7i ; the ivorldngs and 

 the form and size of the male 

 X>rogeny. 



The queen is prepotent in trans- 

 vi\\ti\x\g fecundity ; the comb-building 

 faculty; the peculiar maternal in- 

 stinct and the form and size of the 

 female progeny. 



I have given emphasis to the 

 above points that they may stand 

 out clearly to all who read them ; 

 no rule, however, in the hereditj'' 

 of bees is invariable. Exceptions 

 to establish rules occur in the he- 

 redity' of all theanimal creation. 

 The causes of the exceptions I have 

 never been able to discover, but 

 they are so few that the rules can 

 be depended upon in developing a 

 superior strain of bees. Tlie influ- 

 ence of the drone upon drones does 

 not distinctly appear until in the 

 second generation ; then the form, 

 size and color are ver\' certain of 

 reappearance. For instance, if 

 dark drones of large size are kept 

 for breeding stock, it will not be 

 many years in an Italian apiary be- 

 fore all the drones will be large and 

 dark. The certainty of dark woi-If- 

 er progeny from dark drone paren- 

 tage is very remarkable, no matter 

 how light-colored the queens may 

 be. 



In the case given, to suppress 

 the ugly temper, the drones of those 

 colonies must be destroyed and 

 drones from gentle stocks of good 

 working qualities supplied in their 

 place. A second cross in this 

 way will breed out the undesiral)le 

 trait. If one has a colony of splen- 

 did workers and has regard only 

 for the perpetuation of the one 



