1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



411 



Several times in my life I have seriously considered 

 the idea of attempting the development of a superior 

 strain of bees. I knew that it would require years of 

 careful, patient, persistent work in the way of selec- 

 tion, crossing, testing, etc., and there have always 

 seemed to he too many irons in the fire for me to 

 make room for this one. Some time I may make the 

 attempt; at present, however, I am glad to know that 

 one man, by giving twenty years of his life to the 

 work, has met with a fair measure of success. I have 

 reference to the breeder mentioned in my last adver- 

 tisement of superior stock. Being a little curious to 

 know along what lines he had worked, I asked him to 

 tell me, and from his letter I make the following 

 extract : 



In regard to the origin of my strain of Italians, I 

 would say they were developed by selection and cross- 

 ing. The first Italian queen that I ever possessed was 

 of the Thos. G. Newman stock. The next was of A. I. 

 Root's red-clover stock, purchased in 1881. In 1882 I 

 purchased one of friend Root's best imported queens, 

 lor which I paid $0 00. She was a valuable queen, in- 

 deed: producing workers which were hardy, and reg- 

 ular hustlers for gathering honey. I stocked my api- 

 ary with her daughters, saving only a few queens of 

 the other stock to furnish drones. This gave me a 

 direct cross, which, I think, is the secret of my success. 



In 1883 I found one of the daughters of the Root im- 

 ported queen far outstripping everything in the yard 

 in the way of honey-gathering and comb-building; 

 and her bees capped their honey so white that it made 

 it appear the most beautiful comb honey I ever saw. 

 In this queen I had an acquisition. I used her as a 

 breeding-queen. Her bees were not as handsome as 

 the Newman stock, but beautiful honey attracted my 

 eye and pocket-book more than fancy bees. 



Permit me to say right here that I fear that about 

 nine out of every ten queen-breeders make the mis- 

 take of breeding for color, sacrificing business qual- 

 ities. 



I love to look at the beautiful, golden, five-banded 

 Italians; and I wish that they were as good for busi- 

 ness as the regular three-landed Italians, but I have 

 tried them and found them sadly wanting. 



The queen from which I am now breeding is a won- 

 derful queen, to say the least. Her bees are excellent 

 honey-gatherers, and came through the past severe 

 winter in fine shape, and are now just booming. I 



W. Z. Hutchinson, 



would not part with this queen for ONE HUNDRED 

 DOLLARS. 



This breeder has always advertised in a modest, 

 quiet, unassuming sort of way, nothing in proportion 

 to what the quality of his stock would have warrant- 

 ed, and at last I have decided that I can help him, and 

 benefit my readers at a profit to myself, by advertis- 

 ing these bees in a manner befittingiy energetic. 



The price of these queens will be 81 50 each. This 

 may seem like a high price, but the man who pays it 

 will make dollars where this breeder and myself 

 make cents; and when you come to read the condi- 

 tions under which they are sold it will not seem so 

 high. The queens sent out will all be young queens, 

 just beginning to lay, but, as there are no black bees 

 in the vicinity, it is not likely that any will prove im- 

 purely mated. If any queen should prove to be im- 

 purely mated, another will be sent free of charge. 

 Safe arrival in first-class condition guaranteed. In- 

 structions for introducing will be sent to each pur- 

 chaser, and, if these instructions are followed, and the 

 queen is lost, another will be sent free of charge. 

 This is not all; if, at any time within two years, a pur- 

 chaser, for any reason whatever, is not satisfied 

 with his bargain, he can return the queen, and his 

 money will be refunded, and fifty cents extra sent to 

 pay him for his trouble. It will be seen that the pur- 

 chaser runs no risk whatever. If a queen does not 

 arrive in good condition another is sent. If he loses 

 her in introducing, another is sent. If she should 

 prove impurely mated, another is sent. If the queen 

 proves a poor layer, or the stock does not come up to 

 the expectations, or there is any reason why the bar- 

 gain is not satisfactory, the queen can be returned 

 and the money will be refunded, and the customer 

 fairly well paid for his trouble. I could not make this 

 last promise if I did not know that the stock is real- 

 ly* superior. 



1 said that the price would be SI. 50 each. There is 

 only one condition under which a queen will be sold 

 for a less price, and that is in connection with an ad- 

 vance subscription to the Review. Any one sending 

 81 00 for the Review for 1809 can have a queen for 

 $1.00; that is, I will send the Review for 1890 and one 

 queen for $2.00. Of course, this special offer is made 

 for the sake of getting the Review into the hands of 

 those who are unacquainted with its merits. 



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