APRIL 1, 1914 



249 



General Correspondence 



WHAT IS A GOOD QUEEN? 



The Fact that Colonies Vary Proves that Improvement is Possible ; 

 Choosing a Strain Adapted to the Locality 



BY E. S. MILES 



The quality of our bees is the foundation 

 of our success. If one is to build a perma- 

 nently successful business it is my belief 

 I hat he must have a good strain of bees — 

 one suited to his locality and methods; and 

 (he better the bees, the more successful the 

 business, other things being equal. 



The writer noticed, many years ago, that 

 tliere is a great variation in bees; that they 

 are no exception to the rule of variation 

 thai the close observer sees in all the animal 

 kingdom. 



If you want bad stingers you can find 

 them; if you want those that swarm every 

 favorable time — if you want those that sel- 

 dom store much surplus, you can find them; 

 and the wonder is that, under our present 

 haphazard hit-or-miss, go-as-you-like way 

 of breeding bees, they are not worse than 

 they are. 



But, of course, the hit-or-miss way does 

 hit part of the time; hence some good colo- 

 nies among almost all strains. When I say 

 good colonies I do not mean strong ones : 

 but I mean good ones from the viewpoint 

 of the honey-producer. 



If I were a nature student only, and 

 interested in bees only as a study, I should 

 be, perhaps, as much interested in a poor 

 colony (from the honey-producer's stand- 

 point) as in a good one. But I am speak- 

 ing now solely on the utility of the bees for 

 honey production. 



In bees we see then, I say, a great varia- 

 tion in characteristics. Some have under- 

 taken to deny this, but have simply adver- 

 tised their own lack of jDowers of close 

 observation or their lack of opportunity. 

 This variation is the breeder's hope for 

 better things. True, it will lead nowhere if 

 not followed intelligently, and that is true 

 of the hope of any thing better in any thing 

 in the world. But first, we must know what 

 we want in the bee — what traits to look for 

 — before we start selection for any thing in 

 particular; and I wish to go on record as 

 claiming that one should have bees adapted 

 to his own locality. A good strain developed 

 in another and a different locality may be 

 all right for yours, and then, again, it may 

 not be. 



There is a gi-eat variation as to how they 



breed before, during, and after the flow; 

 and the character of your location as to the 

 number of flows, and when they come, de- 

 termine when and how much you want them 

 lo breed for best results. And here I wish 

 to remark that, in my estimation, there are 

 two popular beliefs that do more to hold 

 back the improvement of the bee than all 

 else put together unless we except the old 

 sin of neglect. These are, the belief that 

 the more ^Trolific the bess the better, and 

 that queens reared under the natural- 

 swarming impulse are the best. 



I do not wish to speak for other than a 

 white-clover or basswood locality, having 

 had no experience with any other, and I 

 am not of those who teach from other men's 

 experience ; but un.der that head I wish to 

 state, as positively as I can make it, my 

 dissent from these errors. Let us look at 

 the bees as though their characteristics were 

 habits. Let us say they have certain habits. 

 One strain has a habit of swarming; an- 

 other of not breeding strong in spring; 

 another of not living through tlie winter; 

 another of not swarming so long as they 

 have a chance to store up honey; another of 

 capping and building beautiful combs ; an- 

 other of making " greasy " cappings, etc. 

 All experienced beemen have seen bees with 

 all these " habits " and many more. 



If we look carefully into these " habits " 

 it will surprise us to find how many of them 

 are linked together, or connected, one being 

 a natural sequence of another, so that, if we 

 avoid one, in some cases we also avoid an- 

 other or more; and if we like one, and 

 choose it, we may get another that is desir- 

 able along with it. Mind, however, that I 

 do not say, " If you get one good habit all 

 others are good;" for sometimes two good 

 habits are the result of one cause. Now, 

 when we come down to selecting, the real 

 difficulty begins; for what two men see 

 alike? What two men would both choose 

 the same colony for a breeder in any certain 

 yard? Yet in every yard of bees there is a 

 one best one for breeding purposes if we 

 could know it ; and the man who does know, 

 or comes nearest to knowing, every thing 

 else being equal, will produce the finest 

 strain of bees. 



