50 THE BEE-KEEPERS- REVIEW 



possibility of improving- the bee, or, rather, of bettering" a yard filled 

 with bees, though at present I incline to the idea that it must be 

 done by culling out the undesirable colonies, and in connection with 

 this work raising a vast number of drones from excellent mothers, 

 while we do not know but what the worst drone in the bunch will 

 mate with our new queen. I think the time will come when students 

 of heredity and JMendelism will agree wnth me that parthenogenesis 

 and mating are such disturbing factors in the study of the bee that 

 complete knowledge of this interesting animal is almost an impos- 

 sibility. Further, I do not think the man who has to hustle for 

 every pound of honey he can get during the season a very good per- 

 son to study evolution, nor can they look to secure positive results 

 when surrounded by farmer bee-keepers who never saw a drone-trap, 

 not to mention wild colonies in adjacent timbers. The matter of 

 improving bees is a formidable task for an untrained man, and the 

 more bees there are in his vicinity the harder the work. The short 

 life of the animal we have to deal with is a feature not to be over- 

 looked, and one which, to my mind, will give us much trouble in 

 producing a new strain or breed. Not only this, but we do not 

 know what effect the drones have in the problem of mating, while 

 it is probable that they are as important in building up a breed of 

 bees as is the male of the quadruped in impro\'ing domestic stock. 

 However, these are problems. If creative evolution be a scientific 

 fact — and I am not ready to deny — the honey-bee can probably be 

 improved. I was struck with what ^Ir. Newel said in regard to 

 mutations in the bees, and suggest that his remarks about partheno- 

 genesis and 'JMendelism be reread. 



Prof. Phillips is so well known to bee-keepers that it will not 

 be at all necessary to call attention to his letter, but I do wish it 

 noted that he makes no extravagant claims. 'Tf mating could be 

 controlled," he says, "it seems entirely logical to suppose that ac- 

 curate breeding would bring good results." Again, "However, it 

 must be admitted, I think, that much of the breeding work now 

 being attempted is probably faulty." How different is all this from 

 some of my brash guesses, to say nothing about the claims of some 

 bee-keepers as to the strains of bees they have produced in a couple 

 or three seasons. 



I cannot refrain from telling would-be breeders of bees that any- 

 where in the treeless plains of the Dakotas can be found hundreds 

 of square miles where no stray drones will make love to fancy girl 

 bees. Of course the bees would have to be fed, but that should not 

 be a hardship considering the quality of queens ai'd drones one 

 could — or might — get. 



I suppose about ninety-nine percentum of the bee-keepers in the 

 United States care nothing about this matter, realizing how useless 



