THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 179 



It is a neat job to shape up the hundreds of pounds of odds 

 and ends into the 2-pound wooden dishes, so that they will show 

 ofif in fine shape. They are even more delicious looking than the 

 sections. It's a trade. Sliced comb looks tempting. Of course the 

 price has something to do with the selling. 



One point more : Should there be any brood in the lower edge 



of the bulk combs or in the combs for extracting, these frames 



should not be lifted from the hive, l^ut spaced to one side until the 



brood has emerged. 



North Manchester, Ind. 



(We should like Friend Miller to tell us, at some future time, just when he 

 sells this bulk comb honey, and whether he has any trouble with it candying. 

 That seems to be the big objection to bulk comb in the North. The plan out- 

 lined by Mr. Miller looks practical to me, if that question of candying does not 

 interfere.) 



Queen Breeding. 



J. C. FRANK. 



' ^i^ OSSIBLY the highest attainment of a successful bee-keeper, 

 X I in this day and age, is the skill in breeding a higher grade 

 9^ of queens for his apiaries. Honey production and rearing 

 queens are to a certain extent antagonistic to each other in practice. 

 The producer of honey must build up his colonies to the greatest 

 strength possible; while the breeder of queens is continually and 

 unavoidably depleting his colonies and keeping them reduced in 

 strength. Hence the queen breeder is liable to have, on hand in 

 the fall, a lot of weak fragments of colonies that will have to be 

 doubled up and fed, at a great expense, if he wishes to take them 

 through the winter. 



Here the question comes up, which is the most profitable, pro- 

 ducing honey or rearing queens? This depends upon the extent of 

 pasturage, location and market. If the bee-keeper is in a fair loca- 

 tion for honey, he had better sell his honey at ten cents per pound 

 rather than rear queens for the market at one dollar each ; for the 

 care, attention, labor and expense attending the production of first- 

 class queens, are very great indeed. 



As the queen is the prime factor of a colony, it is essential that 

 she should possess all the requirements for successfully performing 

 her especial functions. If we desire to improve the qualities of our 

 bees we must commence with the improvement of the queens. 



BOOM FOB IMFBOVEMENT IN BEES. 



That there is room for the improvement of the honey bee, I 

 think can hardly be questioned. A\'e know that both plants and an- 

 imals have been improved upon in the last twenty-five years, and 



