138 



American ^ee Journal 



Feb. 14, 1907 



tember. Just as soon as the workers com- 

 menced to gather honey, I observed that one 

 colony acted as if the queen were lost. The 

 next morning I opened the hive. She was on 

 the bottom board, dead. In one weelv all the 

 bees were dead. She was a hybrid queen, and 

 was tilled with water as large as a drone. 



In the fall of 190ci, the same dealer sent me 

 a queen. I gave this queen to an 11-frame 

 colony. In the spring of 1904 I took out 2 

 brood-frames with the queen. The result 

 was, the colony built one queen-oell, and the 

 queen they reared was very good — as good as 

 her mother. I got 5 queens from this queen, 

 and started several batches of queen-cells. 

 The bees would start cells, cap them over, 

 and after 3 days tear them down. This was a 

 puzzle to me. After a few days the hive was 

 tilled with drones hatched from worker-cells. 

 So I was " played out'' on breeding queens. 



In the spring of 190.5 I wrote the breeder 

 that I did not want any more dollar queens, 

 but that he was to send a breeding queen. I 

 received 2. The drones from both queens are 

 well marked, but the workers of one queen 

 have black blood. Of the second queen the 

 worker progeny was reared all right. I reared 

 several queens from this queen's eggs, and 

 the drones from those young queens have 

 black blood. The fact is, that the queens 

 from that dealer are reared from a pure 

 mother, as from every queen I have received 

 from him the drones are llrst-class. But the 

 queens are mated wtth drones that have black 

 blood, or mongrels. I am well sacisfled that 

 those cheap queens advertised are worthless. 

 A breeder offering untested, select untested, 

 tested, and select tested, tells me plainly that 

 his queens are mongrels. If they have a pure 

 queen ard droneit is impossible to have those 

 grades of queens to sell. 



On page 862 a writer asks. What is a tested 

 Italian queen? A tested, or breeding, queen 

 should be a bright yellow. Every drone must 



have 4 yellow bands, and you can not discern 

 any varying in color. The workers must have 

 3 yellow bands, with light gray on 2 bands. 

 The under part of the abdomen should be 

 bright yellow to the tip. Now let us test this 

 queen. If it is free from any black blood, the 

 drones from every young queen reared from 

 her eggs will have the same number of bands 

 as the mother-queen. Every drone is marked 

 alike. No person can see any difference in 

 the drones. You must trace the pure blood 

 from the drone progeny, not the worker 

 progeny. Where the drone progeny varies in 

 its markings it is a sure sign of black blood. 

 If you breed from such queens you will be 

 sure to get mongrel stock. If a breeder sells 

 you a tested queen, that queen's progeny has 

 been tested by rearing young queens from the 

 eggs of this tested queen, and if like produces 

 like, the drones and workers marked the 

 same as the mother-queen, there will be a 

 tested queen. Subscriber. 



New York, Jan. 7. 



CONVENTION NOTICE. 



Winter Too Mild— Bees Fly and Get 

 Chilled 



This has been a very mild winter on bees so 

 far, although in some respects it has been 

 just as severe as though we had extreme cold. 

 On some of the first days when it began to 

 warm up some of the colonies lost a pint or 

 more of bees, which came out when it was 

 too cool for them to tly, the wind blowing 

 them down on the leeward side of the hive, 

 where they remained and chilled. They were 

 not old, worthless bees, either, as we scraped 

 up several handfuls, made a small nucleus, 

 took them into the house, and to all appear- 

 ance they will survive until spring. 



Bellevue, Ohio, Jan. '20. R. G. Qcirin. 



Please Mention Bee Journal 

 wtien writing advertisers. 



Minnesota— The Southeastern Minnesota 

 Bee- Keepers' Association will meet in the 

 Court House at Winona, on Tuesday and 

 Wednesday, Feb. 26 and 27, 1907. Everybody 

 is invited. E. C. Cornwell, Sec. 



Winona. Minn. 



" Songs of Beedoiii." — This is a beau- 

 tiful 16-page-and-oover pamphlet, 6x9 inches 

 in size, containing 10 bee-songs — words and 

 music — all the songs so far written specially 

 for bee-keepers, we believe. It is nice, a& 

 well as convenient, to Bave these songs all io 

 one binding. Every bee-keepers' organiza- 

 tion should have copies for use at conven- 

 tions. They could be sold to members after 

 using once, or held by the secretary for use 

 at future meetings. Of course, every bee- 

 keeper's family will want at least one copy. 

 It is sent, postpaid, for only 25 cents, or S 

 copies for 60 cents ; or, we will mail one copy 

 with the American Bee Journal one year — 

 both for .? 1. 10. Send all orders to the office 

 of the American Bee Journal. 



Big Profits in Capons 



i'aponizinK is easy— soon 

 learned. Complete outfit 

 with free instructions 

 postpaid $2.50. 



,Ga pe Worm Extractor 25c 



Poultry Marker 2oc 



French Killins; KnifeoOc 

 Ca(ion Book Free. 

 6. F FiUins & 5°i> Co., Arcli St., Ptiiiadelphia ,Pa. 



While the Present Stock of these BEE=HIVE CLOCKS 



them at onl}' $2.00 ea,Ch, by express ; or $2.50 for the Clock 

 American Bee Journal one year. " 



lasts, we will sel 

 and the Weekly 

 Better order at once, before all are gone. 



The Bee-Hive Clock 



We have originated and had made specially 

 for our readers, a bronzed-a;etal Clock, called 

 "The BeeHive Clock." It is 10}^ inches 

 wide at the base, 9% inches high, and deep 

 enough at the base to stand tirmly on a man- 

 tel or elsewhere. It is a beautiful piece of 

 work, and would be both ornamental and 

 very useful in any house, and particularly in 

 a bee-keeper's home. 



The Clock part itself is warranted for 3 

 years to keep good time. So it is no play- 

 thing, but a beautiful and needful article for 

 everyday use. 



Clocks like "The Bee-Hive Clock " usually 

 sell in the stores at from .?4.00 to $5.00 each, 

 but having them made for us in quantities 

 enables us to offer them at S2.50 each by ex- 

 press, or with the American Bee Journal a 

 year— both for only $3 00 Either Clock or 

 Journal would make an ideal gift. 



How to get "The Bee-Hive Clock" 

 FREE 



Send us 5 Xew Subscribers to the 



Weekly American Bee Journal for one year, 

 at $1.00 each, and we will send vou this beau- 

 tiful '• BeeHive Clock" FREE (excepting 

 express charges). Or, send us 4 New Sub- 

 scribers (at $1.00 each) and 50 cents— $4.50 

 in all. Or, 3 New Subscribers (at »1.00 

 each) and $1.00-14.00 in all. Or, 3 New 

 Subscribers (at 11.00 each) and $1.50— 

 $3.50 in all. 



"With the 



Only $2..50, f.o.b. Chicago, by Express. 



Weight, with packing, about 4 pounds. 



What Dr. Miller Thinks of the 

 Bee Hive Clock 



Busily ticking away, in the room where I 

 am sitting, stands a genuine bee-keeper's 

 clock (please understand that the word "gen- 

 uine" belongs to the clock and not to the 

 bee-keeper) .or, as the legend upon the clock 

 has it, " The Bee-Hive Clock." I don't know 



A $4.00 CLOCK FOR $2.50 

 American Bee Journal Bo\rfoT Only $3.00 



whether the idea of getting up such a clock 

 was conceived in the brain of the Editor of 

 the American Bee Journal, or whether he got 

 it elsewhere, but the wonder is that such a 

 thing was not thought of long before. 



Setting aside all idea of its association with 

 the business of a bee-keeper, there is a pecu- 

 liar appropriateness in having the minutes 

 a-jd the hours " told off " in a case represent- 

 ing the home of the busy little workers. The 

 glance at the clock, with its ceaseless tick, 

 tick, tick, tick, can not fail to remind one 

 that the flying moments must be improved 

 now or be forever lost, and that suggestion is 

 reinforced by the thought of the never ceas- 

 ing activity of the little denizens of the hive, 

 always busy, busy, busy, working from morn 

 till night and from night till morn, working 

 unselfishly for the generations to come, and 

 literally dying in the harness. 



Let us be thankful that the form of theold- 

 fashioned straw hive or skep was adopted, and 

 not that of any modern affair, patented or 

 unpatented. The latter smacks of commer- 

 cialism, but the former of solid comfort, for 

 no other form of hive has ever been devised 

 that contributes so fully to the comfort and 

 welfare of a colony of bees as does the o'.d- 

 fashioned straw-hive. It appeals, too, to one's 

 artistic sense as can no angular affair of more 

 modern times. As an emblem of industry, 

 artists have always used — probably always 

 win use — the old straw skep. 



Thanks, Mr. Editor, for furnishing us a 

 time-keeper so appropriate for all, and espe- 

 cially for bee-keepers. C. C. Miller 



Address all orders to GEORGE W. YORK & CO., 334 Dearbom St., CHICAGO, ILL. 



