April 11 I'MJ' 



305 



American liee Journal 



Ihoir iiivciilors to be superior lo the 

 Quinby and Langstroth patterns, but 

 simply ran against a Gibraltar without 

 having made any impression except to 

 shrink the contents of the parties' 

 purses who invested in these so-called 

 improvements. 



The greatest harm that has ever come 

 to the I angstroth and Quinby hives has 

 come through cutting good lumber into 

 worthless fragments, and tacking them 

 together as a part of a Langstroth oi 

 Quinby hive. The same is also true of 

 hives frequently made of store-boxes 

 and not put together in a workmanlike 

 manner. 



But one feature more about the sec- 

 tional hive, which strikes me as a mat- 

 ter of doubtful propriety, is the top- 

 bar of a frame in an under section, and 

 the bottom-bar of the frame of an up- 

 per section, with the open space be- 

 tween them. .Ml added together amount 

 to nearly one bee-space between the 

 combs of the upper and lower sections. 

 That the queen will not ascend to the 

 upper section as long as she can find 



space below to lay eggs is a fact. And 

 when she does finally go above in search 

 of laying room, she will be very slow 

 in returning to the section below. The 

 trutli about the matter is that a queen 

 when left to be guided by her natural 

 instincts prefers l.iying-space more than 

 S or 6 inches deep, as is so often ob- 

 served when she lias long, deep combs 

 at her disposal. In such cases she will 

 invariably lay eggs in a circle, and go 

 from one comb to another on either 

 side from the comb in .which she began 

 laying ; thus placing the developing 

 brood in globe form, which is the best 

 possible shape for a colony of bees to 

 place themselves in, to economize the 

 warmth they generate. This in a shal- 

 low sectional hive they can not do un- 

 less the bee-keeper is ever on the alert 

 to supply an upper section, which the 

 bees and queen will, through force of 

 circumstances, enter. But on acc(iunt 

 of a bar below and one above, with a 

 5-16 space between, they will do so as 

 a last resort, and do so reluctantly. 

 Lyons. Kans. 



-^^' 



(Convention 

 Proceedings 



fh 



Report of the 37th Annual Conven- 

 tion of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, held in San An- 

 toniu, Tex., Nov. 8-10, '06 



( Jontlnued from page 285 ) 

 New Blood or New Strain. 



"I hear our queen-breeders talk about 

 new blood in bees. Do they mean new 

 strains?" 



Pres. Dadant — I think that can be 

 answered by yes. 



New Blood Annually. 



"Is it necessary to introduce new 

 blood annually?" 



Mr. Hatch — I would like to speak a 

 little on that point ; it seems to me the 

 honey-bee should be just as capable 

 of improvement as any other stock, but 

 as I know invariably we cannot always 

 control them like other stock, so it takes 

 a long time. Now in the matter of 

 gentleness, I have handled them some, 

 and I have proven that entirely to my 

 own satisfaction, and I don't believe 

 that anyone can contradict it, that too 

 close breeding would give bad results, 

 and I believe the same thing would hold 

 in bees; and I believe, as I said, these 

 things may be done on account of the 

 bees mating in the air, not under the 

 bee-keepers' control. I don't know 

 whether I ought to say that it takes a 

 good while to improve them, but I will 

 say that I have better bees than I had 

 several years ago. 



Mr. Hilton — Now, is it necessary to 

 introduce at all? But I believe I get 



the best results by introducing a new 

 strain annually. The gentkman last 

 upon the floor has made the matter 

 very plain, that it is best not to keep 

 bees to close breeding. Then, if it be 

 true, is it absolutely necessary that we 

 introduce new strains annually? 



Mr. Anderson — I am here for what 

 information I can glean. I think this 

 is a matter of importance, and I am 

 not satisfied. Now, the question arises, 

 if you have a strain of good bees, is 

 it necessary to introduce new blood to 

 that strain of bees? Now, there is the 

 point I would like information on ; I 

 would like to hear from queen-breeders. 

 Some say if you have got one stock 

 of good bees, keep it pure, neither breed 

 nor introduce another blood. Is it best 

 to keep the strain of blood as you have 

 it, if it is good, or is it better to cross 

 it? 



Mr. Victor — I think it necessary to 

 introduce new blood in an apiary an- 

 nually ; it is necessary in a wild state. 

 Bees in their wild state seldom swarm. 

 I say that it is necessary to introduce 

 new blood, even if it is from the same 

 stock. 



Mr. Chambers — According to my ex- 

 perience it is necessary to introduce 

 new blood. You will always increase 

 vitality by doing so. 



E. J. Atchley — These questions come 

 up at all our bee-meetings, and I think 

 they should be argued very carefully as 

 they come up. I think much depends 

 upon whether it is necessary. If we are 

 producing honey alone, and not breeding 

 queens, I would introduce new blood 



only when I find my bees getting 

 down. In some apiaries it is nec- 

 essary to introduce new blood every 

 year, and in others it is not necessary; 

 it is owing to the locality; it is owing 

 to the kind of honey that is produced, 

 whether extracted, or comb honey, and 

 different things that come up in dif- 

 ferent apiaries; but it is quite necessary 

 for any bee-keeper who is expecting to 

 make a living to look to his queens and 

 bees. When they begin to go down it 

 is time to introduce a good strain of 

 blood, but as long as they are up to 

 the standard it is not necessary. 



J. Q. Smith — Mr. President, the gen- 

 tleman that has just spoken has voiced 

 my sentiments. I don't think it is nec- 

 essary to introduce new blood every 

 year, you might do worse; but if you 

 find that your queens have been super- 

 seded with inferior queens, then intro- 

 duce new blood. 



Dr. Bohrer — The introduction of new 

 blood is that at some time or place de- 

 generation will begin. Now, the ques- 

 tion is, when does it begin? I believe 

 that it begins first; that is, in breeding 

 and requeening. I would suggest that 

 good strains of bees be produced from 

 good breeders, and by this means you 

 will have good queens all the time. I 

 sometimes get queens from Texas and 

 other places, but keep them coming in 

 from different directions. I have some 

 queens that I want to get rid of, and 

 I don't want the queen that stands a 

 chance of producing a bad strain of 

 bees. 



Mr. Parsons — -Those men who have 

 just spoken have given me some idea 

 as to the introduction of these queens, 

 but I think that the person, who asked 

 this question, asked it in the interest 

 of the honey-producer, not from a honey 

 standpoint. If your bees are not doing 

 as well as you want them to; if they 

 don't gather the honey that you think 

 they ought to gather ; if they are not 

 as gentle; then I would say that it would 

 be well to introduce new blood, but be 

 sure that it is better than the one you 

 have. It is a very easy matter to get 

 something that is not so good as the 

 ordinary; it will not do to depend up- 

 on getting a queen from an experienced 

 and honest queen-breeder and breed 

 from her and requeen your apiary. He 

 may do all he can, but he has not had 

 the time to test that queen to see if 

 she is a good all-around queen ; she 

 may look all right, but she may be 

 lacking in that point ; so be sure that 

 the queen you get is better than that 

 which you have, else you may make 

 your bees inferior. 



Mr. Bergstrom — I think the question 

 has been misunderstood. The question 

 was this. Is it necessary to introduce 

 new blood annually — every year? I 

 don't think that there is anything ex- 

 ceeds the importance of introducing 

 new blood occasionally, or only when 

 it is needed. 



On motion, the meeting adjourned to 

 meet at 9 o'clock the next morning. 



SECOND DAY— FiKST Session. 



The Meeting was called to order at 

 9:30 a. m. Nov. 9, 1906, by Pres. C. P. 

 Dadant. 



