THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



121 



liure in Essex county, Mass., and we 

 had the ploasui'e of aiding Mr. 

 Langstrotli, and well know tliatMr. 

 King found no points here that 

 would in the least benefit him if 

 the case went before a jniy. 



No doubt when this comes under 

 the eye of our friend who conducts 

 the New York bee pa[)er, he will 

 howl well and think some pretty 

 . hard things even if he does not men- 

 tion them. Nevertheless, the facts, 

 as above stated, will probably not 

 be disproved by any evidence that 

 that paper can produce. 



They may bring out their old 

 books and go back to the days of 

 Adam and Eve, but the fact that 

 Mr. L. invented the most practical 

 movable-comb frame will remain 

 all the same. 



A few years ago we sent out 

 circulars in order to gather certain 

 data needed. One of the ques- 

 tions was : What kind of hives do 

 you use? Ninety-nine out of every 

 hundred said the " Standard Lang- 

 strotli." 



Several hundred of these circu- 

 lars were sent out and were ad- 

 dressed to beekeepers in every 

 stale in the union. 



<|IJEIIY IJEPA.RTMEWT. 



Answers by Practical Apiarists. 



ULAClv BKES VS. THE YKIXOW liACES. 



Query No. 22. If luiueen-breeclcr 

 shoulil cease to rear tho yellow races 

 in preference to the bhick, would not 

 the former soon become extinct and 

 the latter entirely occupj' the field? 

 Certahily the blacks seem to have great 

 staying qualities in the unequal con- 

 test. How about the survival of the 



fittest? RHADKK. 



ANSWKKS liY K. L. TAYLOK. 



Many have expressed" more or 

 less astonishment at the fact re- 

 ferred to in the above question, 

 but to my mind if the fact were 



10 



different the cause for astonish- 

 ment would be great indeed. If a 

 farmer stall feeds three, say four- 

 year-old, steers apparently equally 

 well he may reasonably indulge a 

 hope, if he feeds them skilfull\', 

 that their increase in weight will 

 , be nearly equal, because their food 

 is sure and regular, every comfort 

 is attended to, and they are just 

 approaching maturity, the period 

 at which health is the most stable 

 and life the most certain ; and yet 

 it would not be wondered at if the 

 farmer finds at last that he has 

 been feeding one of them at a 

 great profit, one at a fair profit 

 and one at a positive loss. Again, 

 let the farmer take cattle well 

 past their prime, when their health 

 and vigor become uncertain, and 

 he would be surprised if they re- 

 sponded equally to food and care. 

 On the other hand, the pros- 

 perity of a colony of bees depends 

 not only on the vigor of the queen, 

 but also upon the food supply and 

 upon what I may call 'the mental 

 characteristics of the t)ees — all 

 matters which are beyond " what 

 can be seen," as the phrase is used 

 in the above query. Let us see 

 whether the conditions resulting 

 from a variation in these particu- 

 lars in different colonies do not 

 abundantly account for all the dif- 

 ference there ever is in the "work- 

 ings of two colonies" apparently 

 alike in the spring. 



1. The bees of different colonies 

 vary greatly in their mental char- 

 acteristics, and no " stock" has 

 ever yet been so highly bred that 

 great differences in this respect 

 cannot be readily seen as the sea- 

 son progresses. Some colonics 

 want to prolong their winter sleep, 

 others " rise early ;" some have a 

 penchant for beginning active 

 brood-rearing early, others prefer 

 to delay ; some are born economi- 

 cal and are parsimonious of their 

 stores till new food is coming 



