1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Superior Stock. 



423 



Every bee-keeper who has had experience with sev- 

 eral strains of bees knows that some are far superior 

 to others — that there is scrub stock among bees, just 

 as there are scrub horse.«, cattle, sheep, and poviltry. 

 l,et me give my own experience. Years ago, while 

 living at Rogersville, I made a specialtj- of rearing 

 queens for sale. Before engaging in this work I 

 bought Italian queens, and Italianized, not only my 

 own bees, but all within three miles of ray apiary. 

 In buying those queens I think that I patronized near- 

 ly every breeder in the United States; and even in 

 those years of inexperience I was not long in noting 

 the great difference in the different strains of bees. 

 The queens from one particular breeder produced 

 bees that delighted me greatly. They were just plain, 

 dark, three-banded Italians, but as workers I have 

 never seen them equaled. They seemed possessed of 

 a steady, quiet determination that enabled them to 

 lay up surplus ahead of the others. Easier bees to 

 handle I have never seen. It sometimes seemed as 

 though they were too busy attending to their own 

 business to bother with anything else. Their honey 

 was capped with a snowy whiteness rivaling that of 

 the blacks. In addition to these desirable traits must 

 be added that of wintering well. If any bees came 

 through the winter it was the colonies of this strain. 

 They came as near being ideal bees as any I have pos- 

 sessed. All I his was twenty years ago; and several 

 times since then I have bought queens of this same 

 breeder, and I have always found this strain of bees 

 possessed of those same good qualities — industry, gen- 

 tleness, and hardiness. In addition to this they cap 

 their honey as the blacks do theirs. I have frequent- 

 ly corresponded with this breeder, and with those who 

 have bought qu ens of him, and I am tlioroughlj- con- 

 vinced that he has a strain of bees that are far supe- 

 rior to the general run of stock. If I were starting 

 an apiary for the production of honey, I should un- 

 hesitatingly stock it with this strain of bees. 



This breeder has always advertised in a modest, 

 qu'.et sort of way, nothing in proportion to what his 

 stock would have warranted, and I have decided that 

 I can help him, and benefit my readers, at a profit to 



myself, by advertising these bees in a manner befit- 

 tingly energetic. 



The price of these queens will be Sl.'jO 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 conditions un- 

 der which they are sold, it will not seem so high. 

 The queens sent out will all be young queens, just be- 

 ginning to lay, but, as there are no black bees in the 

 vicinity, it is not likely that any will prove impurely 

 mated. If any queen should prove to be impurely 

 mated, another will be sent free of charge. Safe ar- 

 rival in first-class condition will be guaranteed. In- 

 structions for introducing will be sent to every 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 

 purchaser, for any reason whatever, is not satisfied 

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

 money will be refunded, and .50 cents extra sent to 

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

 chaser runs NO RISK whatkver. 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, o' 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 really 



SUPERIOR. 



I said that the price would be j?1..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 

 me 81 00 for the REVIEW for 1900 can have one queen 

 for 11.00 ; that is, I will send one queen and the RE- 

 VIEW for 1900 (and 12 back numbers, free) for only 

 S2 00. Of course, this special offer is made for the 

 sake of getting the REVIEW into the hands of tho.se 

 who are unacquainted with its merits. Orders will 

 be strictly in rotation. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich. 



BEES THAT GET THE HONEY. 



" I bought fifteen queens last year. The six I got 

 from you have about completed their first supers, 30 

 sections. None of the others have yet entered theirs." 

 W. W. Erb, Ashland, Oregon, April 22. 



The above explains why my customers " stick to 

 me." They like nice gentle bees that pile up the 

 honey. No pains is spared to have evc^rv queen as good 

 as possible. A few last year's select, }2 00. Breeders, 

 $;? to $4.00. Untested, 7.5 cts.; six for fl.OO; dozen, $7.50; 

 for select, add 25 cts. each. No culls sent out. Circu- 

 lar free. See Gleanings, April 15. 



J. B. CASE, Port Orang:«, Fla. 



IMPROVE YOUR BEES 



by buying some of Hyde's improved strains of either 

 golden Italians, three-band Italians, or Holy I^ands. 

 We know what good queens mean hence breed for 

 honey, gentleness, etc. Send for 20-page circular of 

 valuable information for the honey-pi'oducer. We do 

 not rear poor queens, and do not compete with cheap 

 breeders. Our prices, either race your choice : Untest- 

 ed, before June 1, $1.00; 6 for $5 00. Tested, $1.50. Af- 

 ter June 1, untested, 75c; 6 for 84 25. Tested, $1.25. Dis- 

 count for quantities. Breeding queens a specialty. 



N. B. — For every $10.00 sent us for queens, we will, 

 during Augu.st or September, mail one select tested 

 queen, or for every $25.00 one fine breeder. 



O. P. HYDE & SON. Hutto. Texas. 



Itollan nilQOno Five -banded or three -banded; 

 lldlldll I^UCCllOi bred for 20 years for gentlene.ss. 

 hardiness, and gathering honey from red clover. Test- 

 ed, $1.00 ; untested, 50 cts.; 6, $:?.00 ; 12, $5 .50. No infe- 

 rior-looking queens sent out. Fair treatment to all. 

 SEWARD STEFFY, Bishopville, Morgan Co., O. 



STRONG TESTIIVIONY 



in Favor of 



Bfloore'sStrain of Italians 



Frank Benton, of Washington, D. C. whose name is 

 familiar to all progressive apiarists, writes me, Feb'y 

 20. 1900, as follows : 



'■ I have several times, in the course of correspondence, and 

 in eonversinu- with bee keepers, liad occasion to answer the 

 question : ' Where can the best Italians be got ? ' It is, per- 

 haps, not an easy thing: to say, with certainty, but at least I 

 h;ive felt I niiglit be aule to tell wliere GOOD ones could be 

 obtained. A number have referred to you, for, although I 

 liave not tested youF stock personally, I thought I knew pret- 

 ty well, from general reputation, its character. A bee-keeper 

 near here— Mr. Geo. A. Lamphear, of Vienna, Va. — who got 

 some queens of j'ou on my recommendation, is so well pleased 

 with them — in fact, gives your bees such a good recommenda- 

 tion to me for gentleness and working qualities, particularly 

 tlieir working on red clover, that I thought I would like to 

 try some myself." 



I was not aware that Mr. Benton was recommend- 

 ing my stock until I received the above letter. Such 

 testimony as this certainly has great weight. Don't 

 you think so? My stock is the result of 21 years of 

 careful breeding.'by selecting the he»t honey-gather- 

 ing stock each season from which to rear queens, and 

 crossing them as far as possible with drones not akin. 



Prices for June : Warranted queens, $1.00; 6 for $5.00; 

 12 for 89.00. .Select warranted, $1.25 each ; (i for $6.00 ; 

 12 for $11.00. Strong 3-frame nucleus, with warranted 

 queen, $3.00. Safe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. 



J. P. Moore, Lock box 1, Morgan, Pend. Co., Ky, 



