JANUARY 1, 1914 



Conversations w^ith Doolittle 



At Borodino, New York 



THE BEST BEES. 



" You have been telling us different things 

 about breeding, etc., but you have told us 

 little if any thing about which kind of bees 

 are best suited for different kinds of work. 

 What I want to know is whether all bees 

 are alike suited for comb-honey production, 

 extracted-honey production, or for the pro- 

 duction of wax. If there is a difference, 

 which are best suited for these different 

 kinds of work?" 



" I am well aware that volumes have been 

 written on the subject of the best bees, each 

 Tvriter having his own ideas ; but many do 

 not have the matter fully settled in their 

 own minds, even at the present time. Only 

 recently one of out best apiarists told me 

 that he was not fully persuaded that the 

 Italians were better for any purpose than 

 the blacks." 



" But you do not think that there are 

 many beekeepers who will agree that the 

 blacks are as good as the Italians for any 

 purpose? " 



"There are two points in which the blacks 

 excel, as I think is acknowledged by most 

 of those who have experimented closely. 

 The first is, they cap their section honey 

 whiter than any others; second, they use 

 more wax in doing such capping. AncI here 

 you have an answer to working for the 

 production of wax. It is doubtful, even at 

 the present high prices of wax, whether it is 

 as profitable to work for wax, under any 

 circumstances, as it is for either comb or 

 extracted honey, but if trying the experi- 

 ment I would certainly choose black bees 

 for such a test. At times of a good honey- 

 flow, with little room for comb-building, 

 these bees will plaster things over all about 

 the hive with little bunches of wax, some- 

 thing similar to the way in which Caucas- 

 ians will plaster up the entrance to their 

 hives with a mixture of pollen and propo- 

 lis." 



" But how about extracted and comb hon- 

 ey production? " 



" If I were producing comb honey alto- 

 gether, I would procure a good queen of the 

 golden variety, rearing all queens from her, 

 and allow them to mate with any drones 

 they might chance to meet, the most of 

 which, without doubt, would be from an 

 entirely different blood from themselves, 

 which would give a direct cross. Such di- 

 rect cross always gives the greatest vigor; 

 and in reference to your question as regards 

 the best bees for comb honey I should not 



care one cent whether the young queens 

 from such a mother mated with drones from 

 black or hybrid stock, as all my experience 

 goes to prove that thoroughbred golden Ital- 

 ian queens, mated to drones from either 

 black or hybrid mothers, give bees equal 

 to the very best for comb-honey production. 

 But if I could conveniently hinder such ' 

 mating I should prefer not to have these 

 queens meet drones fi'om young queens 

 reared from imported mothers." 



" How is that? Do not many of our best 

 beekeepers claim that queens from imported 

 stock give the very best honey-gatherers?" 



" Yes, and undoubtedly such claim is ab- 

 solutely true. It is not because they would 

 not give bees just as vigorous and of just 

 as good honey-gathering quaities; but for 

 the reason that, as a rule, workers having 

 such imported blood in them do not cap 

 their honey nearly so nice and captivating 

 to the eye as do those having more of the 

 golden, hybrid, or German blood in their 

 veins. There is no one thing that helps to 

 dispose of a crop of section honey to so 

 good advantage, nor so promptly, as do the 

 nice white and smooth cappings of the 

 combs. Have you never noticed that all 

 fancy honey quotations are based on the 

 looks of the cappings to the combs, and 

 that honey quality takes second place in 

 this matter?" 



" That is right, now I come to think the 

 matter over. But are not such bees as we 

 have just been talking about the best for 

 extracted honey also ? " 



" Well, hardly. They may gather just 

 as much honey, but they use more of that 

 honey in secreting wax, and wax production 

 plays no important point in the production 

 of extracted honey. Dark or leather-color- 

 ed Italians, those nearly related to imported 

 stock, often cap their honey with so thin a 

 covering of wax, and that thin covering 

 placed so close that it touches the honey, 

 causing section honey to have such a greasy, 

 watery appearance that it takes a gi'ade 

 much below fancy in the market, even with 

 the same good quality as fancy in the combs. 

 Now, while this is all against comb-honey 

 production, it is in favor of extracted honey, 

 for nice capping to the combs is never 

 thought of in an apiary devoted to extracted' 

 honey ; hence the less honey that is con- 

 sumed for the secretion of wax, the greater 

 yield of the extracted article. For this rea- 

 son, were I working exclusively for extract- 

 ed honey I would select the darker Italians, 



Continued on page 34. 



