562 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



at peace except when at war ; and ill- 

 gotten gains, whether among bees or 

 men, generally come to no good end. 



Again, I find that very cross bees sel- 

 dom winter well, as they are ever on the 

 alert for some imaginary foe, and do not 

 so readily enter into that state of quiet 

 so necessary for the well-being of the 

 colony. Well do I remember a colony 

 of Cyprians which I once had, that were 

 so cross that they would attack any- 

 thing within 80 rods of the apiary, 

 without any provocation whatever, and, 

 at times, were so vicious that even the 

 doors and windows to our house, which 

 were located some 10 or 15 rods away, 

 had to be kept closed to prevent them 

 from entering and attacking the in- 

 mates; and never could I open their 

 hive without first preparing myself for a 

 regular seige, and several times I have 

 seen the stings so thick in my clothing 

 that I doubt if one square inch from 

 head to foot could have been found that 

 did not contain one or more, even with 

 all the smoke I could use on them, and 

 at last I was compelled to destroy them, 

 as they would attack people and horses 

 on the highway, and were in a fair way 

 to create a disturbance leading to serious 

 consequences. As honey-gatherers they 

 were no better than the average of the 

 more docile races in the same yard. 



During the past five years I have 

 never worn either veil or gloves in the 

 apiary, except on one occasion when I 

 had a swarm cluster in a thick mass of 

 brush on a tree, which made it neces- 

 sary for me to stand on a ladder directly 

 under them in order to secure them, and 

 I then resorted to the use of a veil as a 

 precaution against their falling on my 

 head and shoulders. I have brought 

 about this state of affairs by continued 

 careful breeding and selection, and never 

 before have I had bees that would equal 

 these as energetic honey-gatherers. 



I may say in this connection that I 

 make the production of honey and ex- 

 periments in the various branches of 

 apiculture a specialty, and have tried 

 nearly all of the different races of bees 

 obtainable, and would pinch the head of 

 a queen that produces cross bees, as 

 quickly as for any other one thing that 

 I know of, as I have no use for thera, 

 and am not afraid of any falling off in 

 the average honey crop in consequence 

 of it. 



As a member of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' Union, I would earnestly ad- 

 vise any one having any queens that 

 produce really vicious bees, to send thera 

 to Texas, or elsewhere, where they have 

 lots of room and a sharp stick to look 



after them ; and especially if you are 

 near neighbors, or located along a high- 

 way where people are liable to be dis- 

 turbed by them, for we read that offences 

 must needs come into this world, but 

 woe be unto him by whom the offence 

 cometh. 

 West Galway, N. Y. 



Improvement of Our Present 

 Races of Bees. 



Writte7i for the American Bee Journal 



The question of improvement of our 

 present races of bees has been much 

 discussed, and like the impi'ovement of 

 domestic animals, the most obvious way 

 is to produce and preserve the "fittest." 

 Natural selection of progenitors is not 

 always the "survival of the fittest." 

 Whilst we are eager for improvement 

 that will result in greater honey gather- 

 ing capacity, the fountain-head of 

 much of our apicultural knowledge 

 allows itself lo endorse acts upon what 

 appears to be diametrically opposite to 

 what seems to be demanded. Whilst 

 the course pursued is contrary to every 

 known result, where bees are directing 

 opperatlons according to Natural law, 

 or transmitted instinct, to do other than 

 improve upon Nature's methods, is a 

 wicked perversion of man's opportuni- 

 ties. 



The breeding for size seems lo call 

 loudly for experimentation. Does it not 

 coincide with the average judgment that 

 the larger bee will be, all things con- 

 sidered, the most profitable? Then why 

 continue to breed in combs black with 

 age, and cells half-filled with cocoons ? 

 Is it not a fact that newly-built cells 

 produce an average larger bee ? That 

 it requires a greater amount of chyle, or 

 chyme, to float the larviB ? That this 

 chyle, or chyme, whether scanty or pro- 

 fuse, has a corresponding effect upon 

 the future bee, producing greater size, 

 strength, and activity ? All close ob- 

 servers will readily acknowledge that 

 such is the case in the production of 

 queens — why not the same effect upon 

 the worker? Can you produce as fine 

 and as large queens by taking a portion 

 of the chyme, chyle or jelly from the 

 cell, as will be produced by one abund- 

 antly supplied with the same? These 

 questions were suggested, at this writ- 

 ing, by an article in the American Bee 

 Journal on page 408, and at a prior 

 time by an article in Oleanings, for Aug. 

 15, 1893, page 635; anck the idea en> 



