1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



585 



that large prolific queen over in the corner, will be a 

 prolific one. Such is the common unclcrstnnriing 

 and practice, is it not? My experience has tauyht 

 me that the trait of prolificness is not as surely 

 transmittiblo as those of good nature and honey- 

 gathering and comb-building propensities. In my 

 judgment the three above-named traits of character 

 are the ones which we should especially seek. In 

 my breeding I never breed from a colony that does 

 not possess them in an eminent degree, nor from 

 one that seriously lacks in the following minor 

 points of excellence: viz , prolificness and watchful- 

 ness. I have made these points named above my 

 special objects to breed from, and the reverse of 

 them the proponsiiics to be destroyed through- 

 out my apiary. Friend V. tells friend II., on first 

 page of Nov. No., that ho has found the second and 

 third generation from imported liees to lack the en- 

 ergy of their foreign sires. I can account for that 

 only by some peculiarity of his locality. Five to 

 eight years ago I bought daughters of imported 

 queens quite largely of different breeders who re- 

 ported their apiaries wfll str-cked with imported 

 queens and drones from the same, and of men whom 

 I have no reason to doubt, and I also raised workers, 

 drones, and queens, from imported queens in my 

 own yard, and I will tell you to-day that the best, 

 most profitable, and pleasant bees that I have ever 

 owned are bees that were produced by crossing the 

 best strains of the German bees with (he best of the 

 imported dark leather-colored Italians, at the same 

 time picking from stocks that possessed the above- 

 named qualities in the highest degree. 



After this time I can plainly see the fruits of my 

 labor. My methods have not been strict, but gen- 

 eral and persistent. Both before and since the use 

 of full sheets of comb foundation in the breeding 

 department, I made It a practice to separate my pU- 

 worker and drone combs, and keep the drone combs 

 constantly occupied by such stock as I desired to 

 perpetuate in my apiiiry, and to rear my queens 

 from the pick of the choicest. Don't understand 

 me that I rear all my new queens. I do not. I allow 

 and encourage all my "stajidard" colonies (as we 

 call them) to go on in the natural way; but for those 

 below the " standard," I do the queening as above. 



I never rear queens out of the swarming season. 

 I never have cells built in any but full strong col- 

 onies, and many directly under the swarming im- 

 pulse. 1 am aware that some few contend that my 

 queens arc no better for that; but I am not among 

 them, and I take pleasure in noting that none con- 

 sider them worse. If it is true that some forced 

 queens appear to be No. 1, and really are; that does 

 not prove that the forced from the forced of the 

 forced will not lack the energy of their ancestors. 

 I have but little faith in the improvements to be 

 made by any breeder trying to follow the above 

 rules, and at the same time anxiously watching the 

 developments of stripes. I have almost totally ig- 

 nored color, and yet, strange to say, I enter few 

 apiaries that are really yellower than my own. 

 "Cross hybrids" are no more a couplet in our apia- 

 ry. Such things are not necessary. It seems to me 

 that the whole subject is summed up in the word 

 "ditTereniiation." In every species of animal or 

 vegetable life, wherever found, we see that nature 

 is ever "sporting," thus producing great differfnccs, 

 and this is an earnest invitation to the thoughtful 

 and progressive culturist to improve the strains and 

 species that are under his control. If you wish cei'- 



tain qualities of character, breed toward them. If 

 color, in stripes or otherwise, breed for that. 



James Heddon. 

 Dowagiae, Cass Co., Mich., Oct. 7, 1881. 



FROM 12 TO 81 IN 0\K SEASON, CONSID- 

 ERKD AGAIN. 



ALSO SOMETHISG ABOUT nOSEY-PLANTS. 



M'O, you are not correct on p. 5-%, if I am correct 

 in understanding you. No frame of brood, 



' " nor of anything hut empty comb, was used 

 in building up the 13 colonies to 81. The S9 (you 

 probably mean 69) frames of brood that you speak of 

 as taken from the home apiary were part and parcel 

 of the 12 colonics, a full colony being taken from the 

 home apiary, with a queen-cell in each frame of 

 brood, and distributed in the Wilson apiary. The 

 queen-cells were started by other colonies; but as 

 an otfset to this, the 12 colonies had only 8 queens 

 among them, so I think it is not far from fair to say 

 that, by the aid of empty combs, 12 colonies were In- 

 creased to 81. Most of the 12 were of my strongest 

 colonies, but all my stocks were weak, and one of 

 the original IShadgot nofurther,up to June 11, than 

 to have a patch of brood in two combs. It may be 

 interesting to give you the exact record of one of 

 the earliest-formed colonies, which, of course, will 

 have a more favorable record than those formed 

 later. 



May 24, I started it with one frame of brood and 

 the adhering bees, giving it a queen-cell, putting an 

 empty comb on each side of the brood. May 28, 1 

 saw the young queen. June 3, gave one frame esg's. 

 June 11, clipped the queen and took away one frame 

 eggs. June IT, took one frame eggs, leaving only 

 one frame brood. June 2.5 there was brood in three 

 frames. July], took one brood, leaving three brood. 

 July 11, had four brood. July 20, brood in C combs. 

 Aug. 16, brood in 7; extracted one comb of honey. 

 Aug. 22, extracted one honey. Aug. 31, extracted 

 one honey. Sept. 6, extracted one honey. Oct. 21, 

 the stock weighed 75 lbs., without cap or cover, in L. 

 hive, with fixed bottom-board, 9 combs, and =^-inch 

 division-board. So I suppose it has at least 35 lbs. of 

 honey. 



I gave to the work the closest and best care I was 

 capable of, and they had no combs to build; but 

 above all, the season was such as I never knew be- 

 fore, giving an uninterrupted flow of honey from 

 spring till some time in September. And this leads 

 me to think that those of us who wish to make a 

 business of raising honey will, sooner or later, be 

 driven to give some attention to the matter of 



ARTIFICI.4L, P.iSTURAGE. 



If an occasional season gives unusual results, can 

 we not to some extent control the seasons by judi- 

 cious planting? Now, I don't mean to go crazy on 

 this subject, but I am not keeping bees for fun, but 

 for the money there is in it; and believing that I 

 could get good returns from the outlay, I am willing 

 to invest some dollars in planting figwort. Spider 

 plant, melilot, etc., if I can know just how to go 

 about it. From all accounts, I think I should rather 

 have an acre of figwort than of any other one plant. 

 I have just set out a dozen plants of it that I found 

 growing wild, an old friend first calling my attention 

 to it as a weed on which the bees were constantly at 

 work. 1 planted a package of seed in the spring of 

 18i0, and not a seed grew; but this year one plant 



