knowledge to him. Napoleon had the queen- 

 bee profusely embroiderd on his mantle of 

 state. 



The Romans had laws regulating beekeep- 

 ing, some of which dealt with swarming and 

 the ownership en route. 



The ancient astronomers named a cluster 

 of stars PrfEsepe, meaning the beehive. 



The kings of England in the Middle Ages 

 called the Jews their honeybees because the 

 Jews conti-ibuted largely to the kings' reve- 

 nue; but they did so under compulsion. 



The great musicians of the past paid their 

 homage to the bee; for did not Mendelssohn 

 compose the " Bees' Wedding," said to be 

 among his masterpieces? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE 



We read in some old histories when man 

 could leave records that he was found with 

 sheep a.nd carrying about sections of trees 

 containing bees and honeycomb. 



What would Pharaoh, Israel, Columbus, 

 the Pilgrim fathers. Captain Cook, say if 

 they were to see a modern apiary with a 

 motor-driven extractor at work, and witness 

 bees being moved 1500 miles by road, 

 rail, steamer, and producing, perhaps, a 

 score of tons of honey? May we assume 

 that there has been more advance made in 

 the honey industry in the last 100 years 

 than in 3000 years previously? 



Ngoora, Nemengha, N. S. W., May 20. 



HOW TO SELECT A 



BREEDING QUEEN FOE 

 OWP 



REQUEENING ONE'S 



BY FRANK BUTLER 



The bees that get the honey are the ones 

 the beekeeper wants, and are the only kind 

 there is any profit in having. Good bees 

 for honey-gathering make necessary good 

 queens. In order to secure good queens, the 

 apiary should be headed by one or more 

 strictly first-class breeding-queens. It seems, 

 therefore, that the breeding queen is quite 

 as important as any thing connected with 

 the apiai-y. 



But how is a beekeeper to select one and 

 know that she is the best? So far as I can 

 see they can hardly be tested sufficiently for 

 requeening the entire yai'd much before the 

 third year. As an instance, from one colo- 

 ny which gave a large yield and did not 

 swarm I reared a number of queens the 

 next season. All proved of no practical 

 value. Another colony which did equally 

 well in storing honey and from which I 

 reared a number of queens gave quite differ- 

 ent results. 



I found that a large percentage of the 

 queens would duplicate the old one in stor- 

 ing honey. When a swarm issues from one 

 of these colonies it will be found in most 

 cases that there are very few cells started — 

 rarely over two or three — and this, by the 

 way, is one of the best indirect methods of 

 judging a good queen. Here, then, is my 

 idea of a good queen. 



Of course, good wintering, gentleness, 

 and, if run for comb honey, the bees' ability 

 to store a good fat section well sealed to 

 the wood, must be taken into consideration. 

 If one has an apiary of 50 colonies or more, 

 some one queen will match up to the above 

 specifications. If selection in breeding is 

 practiced, it wiU be found that, instead of a 

 few colonies giving a large yield, one colony 

 will do about as well as another. 

 Dover Plains, N. Y. 



NEW PRINCIPLES IN HIVE METHODS 



BY J. E. HAND 



No apology for suggesting an improve- 

 ment in hive methods is necessary, in view 

 of the fact that present-day hives are total- 

 ly inadequate to the ueeds of modern meth- 

 ods. No improvement in hive methods has 

 been made during the past quarter-century, 

 simply because we have all along been con- 

 tented with small hives — hives of insufficient 

 capacity for the development of correct 

 principles. First, and foremost among all 

 the qualities that should recommend a hive, 

 is capacity. With a properly proportioned 



hive of suitable capacity all things are pos- 

 sible, for hive troubles will vanish before 

 it, and the most intricate problems are solved 

 with the greatest economy. We may rest 

 assured that no hive is too large so long 

 as the extra capacity is fully utilized for 

 the development of economical and valuable 

 principles. 



Secondly, beekeeping is virtually an all- 

 the-year-round proposition ; and a hive that 

 furnishes protection for its colony in sum- 

 mer only is but half a hive at best, and the 



