284 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



stocks and none of ns wish to man- 

 ipulate or keep unthrifty, profitless 

 colonies. 



Wh}'^ are some of that character 

 to be found in every apiary? 



I replied to this question once 

 asked by friend Heddon, by say- 

 ing — "for tlie same reason that we 

 find 'ne'er do wells' among men, 

 and in all animated nature, as 

 well as in the vegetable kingdom." 

 We plant trees apparently alike, 

 and give them the same cax'e and 

 attention, and often find that while 

 some reward us richly, others never 

 do well. 



There are deep questions in- 

 volved in the inheritance of vital 

 forces which affect the productive 

 powers of animals, and of vegeta- 

 ble life as well. Breeders of horses, 

 cattle, sheep and swine understand 

 well the importance of this sub- 

 ject. They know the value of a 

 parent that can invariably trans- 

 mit to progeny its own high qual- 

 ities. They also know that some 

 progenitors will not do this sureh'. 



Without question this is true 

 with bees. Just ivliy one of a 

 batch of queen cells shall provide 

 a parent queen whose qualities are 

 all desirable, where others, coming 

 out under the same conditions and 

 so mated for aught we know 

 shall prove worthless, is one of the 

 secrets we may never know. 



Man}' of the laws of develop- 

 ment we master. Some we have 

 not. 



Now then, very many, as we be- 

 lieve a great majority of these weak, 

 profitless colonies, are such from 

 inherent defects of the queen 

 mother. If this be so the true 

 policy is to replace her. And to 

 make up for delays and lost time 

 we would use the redundant ener- 

 gies of other colonies, in preference 

 to encouraging natural swarming. 



We all note the increased energy 

 of newly hived swarms. All who 

 have their yards and fields as they 



believe fully stocked, and are pre- 

 pared for and actuall}' making fine 

 comb honey, know how provoking 

 it is to have it all broken up by the 

 issue of powerful swarms. We 

 have failed to note any diminutiou 

 of energy caused by adding sheets 

 of broo(l and the honey case with 

 all its bees to the new swarms, in 

 many years' practice. And we 

 never had but one case where a 

 prime swarm, thus treated, casta 

 swarm the same season. And we 

 have never had one desert, where 

 even one comb of brood was put 

 into the hive with a swarm. 



I am well satisfied that no rule 

 will work equally well in all apia- 

 ries. Different management is re- 

 quired as environment varies, and 

 as the races and habits of bees 

 vary. 



We doubt if many apiaries will 

 show less natural swarming than 

 ours. As to results in honey 

 product they are always satisfac- 

 tory in good seasons. 300 pounds 

 to the colony is the highest ever 

 attained b}^ the best, 200 pounds 

 being often had. No master of the 

 business ever had colonies too 

 strong. 



It is an open question, however, 

 as to the attainment of the best re- 

 sults in a given field by the use of 

 a larger number of small hives in- 

 stead of the larger ones which may 

 to a certain degree, be made non- 

 swarmers. 



This is doubtless to be tested by 

 the Heddon hive. It appears to be 

 an important feature of his system. 

 It is a subject worthy of investiga- 

 tion and trial. 



We have alwa^'s believed that 

 40,000 bees will store more honey 

 in one colon}' than in two. But 

 will the same rule hold good for 

 60,000 ? If not, it is because of fa- 

 cilities being curtailed by numbers. 



We cannot believe that, under 

 like circumstances, an eight- frame 

 Heddon hive can be made to pro- 



