lays 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



421 



Making Improvements in the. Race of Bees. 



BY A. BEAMAN. 



In looking over the pages of the American Bee Journal 

 for this year, I find two communications and several references 

 to the improvement of the race of bees. It Is to be regretted 

 that In one or two instances the thoughts of the writers ran 

 off on the side line of creation — away from the fact that, as 

 every observant bee-keeper knows, bees vary in many 

 particulars as to size, prolificness of queen, hardiness, dispo- 

 sition, etc. — and come to the conclusion that bees are now as 

 perfect as they were in the beginning. Such a conclusion in- 

 volves a very nice distinction as to what is meant by " per- 

 fect." Surely, the writer could not have meant precisely 

 what large numbers of people might think him to mean, 

 namely, that bees have now the same form, and do the same 

 things in exactly the same way as they did a', first, rather 

 than that when bees were created they were created perfect 

 in accordance with the conditions that would surround them, 

 and that as they were In perfect accord with their surround- 

 ing conditions then, so they are now in accord with present 

 conditions. But conditions have greatly changed, and con- 

 sequently so must have the bees. 



When one tries to change the form or the honey-produc- 

 ing qualities of bees, or the prolificness of queens, or do what 

 we ordinarily call " improving our stock," we change the con- 

 ditions under which the bees generally live. Rev. Templin 

 mentioned how Mr. Darwin changed the form of his pigeons 

 and produced new breeds. Mr. Darwin, by selecting out some 

 pigeons for breeding together and rejecting others, made a 

 new condition that had the effect of making a new breed. The 

 breeding of pigeons, of chickens, of cats, dogs, horses, sheep, 

 hogs and cattle, to obtain a better quality or kind of stock ; 

 the selection of seed corn, of seed oats or wheat having cer- 

 tain characters that are thought to be the best for the pur- 

 poses in view, is more or less familiar to every one. 



If any one has doubted that bees or insects can be 

 changed in form, or in disposition, or Improved, it must be 

 because the person has not observed closely enough, and has 

 consequently always thought of these small creatures always 

 the same, each bee exactly like every other — of course forget- 

 ting the old saying that there are no two things alike under 

 the sun. Really, the creatures have been too small for him — 

 beneath his notice. But observant bee-keepers, those that 

 love their bees, and are to be found working over and about or 

 among them at every spare moment, or to the neglect of other 

 work, as already mentioned, have found differences between 

 bee and bee, and hive and hive. Beyond a doubt, many dif- 

 ferences not found by them can be found by one properly 

 trained in powers of observation, and with proper aids to his 

 five senses, who looks for variations. 



Some of our common flowers have only five petals, so far 

 as the most of us know, but some scientists have lookt into 

 the matter and have found that once in awhile one can find a 

 flower with six petals. All of us are aware that four and five 

 leaved clovers can be found in white clover, and less often in 

 red clover. 



In the Scientific American, or in the Scientific American 

 Supplement, last spring there was an account of a scientist 

 having produced monsters in moths, by grafting pieces of the 

 pupse of several moths together and holding them in place 

 with parafHne, very much as one does the bark in grafting 

 trees. One of the illustrations showed a moth with two bodies. 

 The Chinese make monster gold fish by performing cer- 

 tain surgical operations upon them when they are very young. 

 Certain scientists have made monster animals develop under 

 peculiar conditions. 



It seems, then, that those who know how to go about the 

 work can do much more with animals than most people sup- 

 pose, and it looks very probable, therefore, that the proper 

 person could produce new races of bees that might be much 

 better than those we have at present. 



The lengthening of the tongues mentioned by Rev. Tem- 

 lin is a case In point. Certainly if the stores of honey that 

 from a human standpoint now go to waste every year in the 

 corollas of red clover and other flowers with long clovers could 

 be added to the stores that are obtained from the bees from 

 other sources, there would be a gain for the bee-keeper. So 

 there would also, If, as suggested by Mr. Getaz, bees were 

 larger and could carry larger loads. Many other points might 

 be brought forth, In many of which the scientists would be 

 deeply Interested. There is then no doubt that bees can be 

 Improved by those that know how and have the opportunity, 

 or that such improvement is desired. 



The question is. How to go about the work. Mr. Getaz 

 Informs us that we cannot, like the breeders of cattle and 

 horses, make note of the points of bees and keep them re- 



corded in a book. Here I think he makes a mistake, and that 

 there Is not an animal living, large or small, that cannot have 

 its qualities good, bad, or indifferent, written down on paper. 

 True, the workers do not lay the eggs that keep the colony 

 alive. But whatever qualities they may have can be charged 

 up to the queen. The real dlQiculty is the time that would be 

 necessary to obtain small results. But time is required In the 

 breeding of all animals, and it is not probable that any one 

 can be found who regrets the time spent in breeding up our 

 best Jerseys, Durhams, our Percherons, Clydesdales, our 

 Chester Whites, Poland Chinas, Essex, or Berkshire, our South- 

 downs, or our Merinos, or our Plymouth Rocks, or White 

 Leghorns. All of these were once nothing more than ordinary 

 wild animals. 



There is also the item of expense, if a single bee-keeper 

 should undertake all the improvements that might be made. 

 To a considerable extent he would be obliged to sacrifice 

 profit from annual crops of honey and wax, or colonies of 

 bees, for improvements the good results of which he might not 

 be able to realize for some 20 years, or perhaps he might be 

 obliged to pass some of them on to his children, and never 

 realize them himself at all. 



If the single bee-keeper is not likely to undertake the 

 work of improvement, who will '? If the improvements are 

 wanted, as all improvements are, and the necessary time and 

 consequent expense makes It practically impossible for the 

 individual bee-keeper to undertake it, who can ? 



District of Columbia. 



Marketing Honey— Some Excellent Advice. 



BY A. E. HOSHAL. 



The first rquisite in the marketing of extracted honey for 

 table use is quality. Nothing but an absolutely first-class 

 article should ever be placed upon the market for this purpose. 

 Good extracted honey will cultivate a taste and sustain a de- 

 mand for itself, while that which is a little off in quality will 

 destroy such a taste, and consequently with it the demand for 

 extracted honey. A bee-keeper who may happen to have some 

 off-grade extracted honey on hand would better use it for stim- 

 ulative or winter feeding, make vinegar of It, sell it for manu- 

 facturing purposes, or, if the worst must be done, throw it 

 away, rather than place it upon the market for table use. 

 And so long as bee-keepers persist in extracting their honey 

 before it Is well capt and thoroughly ripened on the hive, just 

 so long will they have some of this kind of article to dispose of. 

 Comb honey in sections should never be marketed in the 

 cases In which it was stored by the bees, but should be re- 

 moved from these, the sections scraped clean of propolis, and, 

 unlike extracted honey, graded into about three grades. Each 

 grade should be crated by Itself in new, clean, fresh-looking 

 shipping-cases, and the honey which Is seen through the glass 

 in the side of each crate should be a fair sample of that with- 

 in. These cases can be obtained from any apiarian supply- 

 dealer, and those holding 12 sections each usually take the 

 best on the market. 



For marketing extracted honey in bulk, we have nothing 

 better than the 60-pound square tin can encased in wood. 

 With these, extracted honey can be shipt anywhere with 

 safety, and is In convenient shape. For retail purposes neat 

 packages holding 1, 2, 8, 5 or 10 pounds would be required. 

 If the honey be peddled or sold at home, a o or 10 pound tin 

 pail will be much in demand, but if placed in a grocery or 

 other store, packages holding 1, 2 or 3 pounds will sell de- 

 cidedly the best. 



I know of no article where cleanliness, neatness and taste 

 count for more in marketing than with honey. Let it once 

 get daubed about, or on the outside of the package, and it is a 

 sticky mess, attracting flies and other Insects, and retaining 

 whatever dust or dirt comes In contact with it, making of 

 it the repulsive rather than the attractive sweet of nature. 

 Comb honey which may have become daubed should be re- 

 turned to the bees for a half hour or so to be cleaned up again. 

 All shipping-cases for comb honey should have their bottoms 

 covered on the inside with a loose paper, the edges being 

 turned up about % of an inch, so as to form a kind of shallow 

 paper tray, and In this tray small cleats so placed as to sup- 

 port the sections when placed In the crate. The paper trays 

 will catch all drippings from the honey, and prevent it get- 

 ting outside of the case, while the cleats supporting the sec- 

 tions will prevent them becoming daubed, as they otherwise 

 would If allowed to rest on the bottoms of these trays. 



It is best, usually, that extracted honey reach the con- 

 sumer in liquid form ; also, In placing it In grocery or other 

 stores for the retail trade It should be In such packages that It 

 it will be Impossible for it to spill or slop out, even tho it 



