438 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1917 



me to say what I would advise the owner of 

 the two queens, A and B. It would be 

 something like this : " You can't tell very 

 much about B as to just what she would 

 have done if she had had the best of chances, 

 and if I were you I think I would leave her 

 altogether out of the running. If A has 

 given you a bigger surplus than any other 

 in the apiary, it's a pretty safe guess that 

 she's a better queen than the average; and 

 this being the case it follows that breeding 

 from her must raise the average; and if 

 you keep this up year after year there will 

 be constant improvement of stock so long- 

 as you find one queen better than the 

 others." 



If that advice is not good, please tell us 

 what is wrong about it, and be sure to tell 

 us what advice would be better. 



I think I hear some one say : "It gives 

 me a sort of uneasy feeling to think there 

 may be a queen in my apiary handicapped 

 by bad rearing that would be better to 

 breed from than the one I am now using. 

 If there is one such, there may be many. 

 If you can't spot them, may be some one 

 else can." 



Whether there be any cause for uneasiness 

 depends upon what has been done. If you 

 are in the habit of having queen-cells rear- 

 ed in nuclei or weak colonies, or at a time 

 when little or no honey was to be had, then 

 you are sure to have a lot of poorly reared 

 queens, altho they may be of excellent 

 blood. But up-to-date beekeepers don't 

 rear queens in that way. There is no ex- 

 cuse for a beekeeper to have cells reared in 

 anything but strong colonies at a time when 

 forage is abundant; and when that is done, 

 how can thei'e be poorly reared queens? So 

 it is in the power of the beekeeper to have 

 none but well-reared queens; and that being 

 the case, it seems to me the right way for 

 him to rate his queens is by the amount of 

 honey stored by each. 



One reason why I believe in that way is 

 because of what it has done for me. For 

 years I have followed the plan of keeping 

 tally of the yield of each colony in order to 

 breed from the best yielders, and my aver- 

 age per colony has gradually increased until 

 it is three times what it was. Years ago 

 lean years were in the majority, some years 

 not only giving no sux'plus but obliging me 

 to buy sugar for winter stores in order to 

 keep my colonies alive. For some years I 

 have had no interest in the price of sugar, 

 the bees not only finding their own stores 

 but giving me more or less surplus as well, 

 with no year of entire failure. Some of 

 the difference, I think, is due to improve- 

 ment of pasturage; some of it, no doubt, to 

 better management; but I think it is due 



in the main to improvement in stock caus- 

 ed by selecting as breeders the queens of 

 colonies giving the largest yields. 



If I am wrong in my views, I shall be 

 exceedingly thankful to any one who will 

 set me right. Until then I don't believe I 

 can render a greater service to beginners 

 than to urge their adoption of the slogan, 

 " Breed from the best," and to count those 

 best that give biggest yields. 



Drone-cells One Side, Worker the 



Other 



Burdett Hassett writes : " I have cer- 

 tainly seen several eases, here in Virginia, 

 of drone-cells on one side and worker-cells 

 on the other, of natural comb— not built on 

 foundation at all. A. Tschoeberle writes 

 that he had a small patch of drone brood on 

 one side and worker brood on the other, 

 and it was built on foundation. 



Drone-cells on one side of a comb, worker on the 

 other. The upper view is a transparent one, look- 

 right thru ; the middle view shows the drone side, 

 and the lower the worker. 



And now comes by mail a bulky parcel 

 from Allen Latham — a section of honey. I 

 found drone-cells on one side and worker- 

 cells on the other. Curious to know about 

 the base, I sliced off both sides and washed 

 the honey off the septum. Isn't it the most 

 " impossible " thing you ever saw ? Look- 

 ing thru it you will see natural base in a 

 few cells, but in most of them the cells of 

 one side are entirely independent of the 

 other, built any old way, regardless. I 

 didn't suppose bees could be induced to do 

 such a thing. After this I'll hardly dispute 

 anything — done by Allen Latham's bees. 



C, C. Miller. 



