THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



23 



road to dissatisfaction, and I Isnow of 

 a number that have tried to vvorlv 

 from a liybrid-stock starting-poiiit, 

 and tliey liave always given up vvitli 

 evidence tliat tliey would result in a 

 strong tendency to show apparent 

 purity in offspring of botli the original 

 jjarents, and that after several suc- 

 cessive generations. And like results 

 will positively settle the hybrid start- 

 ing-point. 



That bees cannot be manipulated 

 like other kinds of stock is an error. 

 That they are not governed by the 

 same laws as other stock is an error ; 

 and that there are not governing laws 

 that are particularly tlieir own is pos- 

 itively true and beyond question, as 

 every observing, practical bee-keeper 

 knows, and those laws are, without 

 doubt, elastic enough to be manipula- 

 tive to a practicable extent. 



One question right liere is, who is 

 going to give us tlie perfect bee? How 

 are they going to obtain it? ^Vhen 

 are we to have it V And where from 

 will we get it V 



I have been reading all that I could 

 get hold of that has been written, 

 and, like many others, have gained 

 but a dim light on the subject, except 

 that some think it will be a three or 

 four banded bee. 



Friend Newman (I say friend be- 

 cause you are a friend to us all), can- 

 not you possibly sift this subject out 

 so as to give us the fine (lour and pos- 

 itive and concise rules to work by, aiul 

 report results to you for a suuuaing-iip 

 or comparison V 



I do not know what others are doing, 

 or just how they are working, or in 

 what points they are succeeding; but 

 one thing I feel very sure of, they are 

 either succeeding blindly witliout 

 knowing how, or they don't and won't 

 tell us the whole in plain language. 



Another point I am sure of, we may 

 think we know what to expect from 

 the queen, but we expect more tlian 

 we get, and we get some things that 

 are accounted for most mistakably, or 

 else apiculture, as it is, is a wrongly 

 taught and practiced science. 



When Mr. Theo. Feet wrote some 

 time ago that the drone was an im- 

 portant factor, he wrote a good deal 

 of overlooked truth and no foolish 

 poetry. 



At the present day, we are obliged 

 to swallow that detestable Dzierzon 

 theory, or disbelieve our own eyes. 

 Now we will acknowledge it true, and 

 on that ground ask some questions : 

 If we liave an extra good colony for 

 honey qualities, which is to have the 

 credit, the queen or the drone she 

 mated with ? If the queen, why don't 

 we get the same from her daughter's 

 progeny V If from the drone, why not 

 from the workers of tlie queen he 

 mates with (tlie queens and drones 

 coming from the same stock) 'i 



Will some one answer the following 

 questions fully in the Bee Journal, 

 and give lis a chance to sift out the 

 fine fiour V 



What relation is a drone raised by a 

 queen to tlie drone her mother mated 

 with V 



What relation to the drone she 

 mates with y 



What relation to her princess V 



What relation is he to her (the queen 

 laying the eggs) '? 



And what relation is the mating 

 drone to the queen's princesses and 

 workers V 



I am sure all of the above questions, 

 or their correct answers, are of just as 

 much need to be considered as the 

 qualities of prolificiiess, gentleness, 

 great lioney gathering propensities, 

 or any amount of color or bands, and, 

 by a thorough understanding of their 

 proper answers, rules will be seen, 

 which, if followed, will give all the 

 graces called for. 



Ferhaps some of the readers of the 

 J5ee Journal think I had better fin- 

 ish up that foul brood and the desi- 

 cated brood (piestion. I will, but I 

 wish to wait till spring and know for 

 sure if my past experiments prove 

 true. I shall send specimens of it to 

 Prof. A. J. Cook again as early as 

 practical, and to the editor, with con- 

 densed report of observations at the 

 earliest opportunity. 



Woodbury, Conn. 



[Referring to the above suggestion 

 relative to laying down concise rules 

 to be observed in breeding for the 

 " coming bee," we certainly cannot 

 arrogate to ourselves the wisdom to do 

 so. If Mr. Jeffrey will reflect, that 

 thousands of intelligent bee-keepers 

 in America are deeply interested in 

 the improvement of their bees, it 

 would seem inexcusable egotism for 

 us to make suggestions, especially 

 when decided and perceptible im- 

 provements have already been accom- 

 plished. While one may be slowly, 

 but surely, approaching the summit 

 in around-about cour.se, another, with 

 more comprehension but less patience, 

 may reach it by a shorter route. We 

 can hardly guess when the result will 

 be reached, but that it will be attained 

 we cannot doubt ; and perhaps sooner 

 than many anticipate. — Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Talk on Sundry Bee Matters. 



AV3I. F. CLARKE. 



I often feel disposed to write on a 

 variety of bee-keeping topics in a free- 

 and-easy, chit-chatty sort of way, 

 dispensing with all the formalities of 

 a set article or editorial. Whether 

 this sort of thing will interest the 

 readers of the American J3ee Jour- 

 nal, or be voted a bore, I do not 

 know, but shall probably find out 

 after the present lucubration sees the 

 light. We are constantly trying ex- 

 periments witli bees, and it may not 

 be amiss now and then to try one with 

 bee-keepers. " So, here goes. " 



A BEE COMPANY. 



We liave organized a company in 

 this town, and started an apiary as a 

 tentative business venture. Money is 

 plenty at six per cent, and some of us 

 think we can pay all expenses and de- 



clare a dividend of 10 percent, every 

 six months. If this can be done in 

 connection with a legitimate indus- 

 try, will it not be preferable to shav- 

 ing notes and squeezing debtorsV 

 Tliiis far, we have only bought 44 

 hives of bees, being the sum total of 

 that nice little apiary at Kincardine, 

 witli which I fell so desperately in 

 love last July, and of whicli I wrote 

 a brief accouiitforthe Bee Journal. 

 Mr. Sturgeon, the owner of it, had 

 either to give up his business or part 

 with his apiary, and very reluctantly 

 concluded to do the latter. He, how- 

 ever, reserved 2 or 3 colonies, having 

 come to such a pass that he cannot 

 live without bees. Twenty-seven of 

 our colonies are in double chaff hives, 

 made after a pattern obtained from 

 A. I. Root. The remaining 17 are in 

 the common Simplicity liive. We 

 had outside cases made for these of 

 pliined liunber, at a cost of 05 cents 

 each. They look nearly, if not quite 

 as well as the others, and don't cost 

 one-fourth the amount. The cases 

 are six inches larger every way than 

 the Simplicity hive, and tlie space is 

 filled in with chaff. I never handled 

 a double chaff hive until last summer, 

 and found one serious objection to it: 

 The permanent upper story is very in- 

 convenient for the elbows in taking 

 out and putting in frames. It also 

 necessitates a great deal of stooping, 

 whereas with the single hive, you can 

 sit down on a stool or box, and take 

 solid comfort while exploring the con- 

 dition of a colony. 



.JONES' new departure. 



Jones has become an editor. He is 

 conducting a bee department for the 

 Montreal Witness, a paper I have long 

 written for, but from which I retire 

 January 1, in order to give my best 

 attention to the Rural Canadian, 

 which has been kindly noticed in the 

 Bee Journal, and will, of course, 

 have a bee department of its own. 

 Jones makes a very good fist of it as a 

 beginner, and it strikes me that many 

 practical bee-keepers might do good 

 service to the cause of apiculture, 

 and help their own business, by run- 

 ning bee departments in their local 

 newspapers. 



doolittle's catalogue. 



" I arise " to state that I have re- 

 ceived the above, and like it very 

 much. It is the neatest and most 

 tasty thing of the kind in my collec- 

 tion of bee-keepers' catalogues. For 

 the most part, It is well written. But 

 friend D., like the majority of tliose 

 who write on apiculture, uses "the 

 plural of majesty," and it sometimes 

 reads queerly. " AVe had desired to 

 liave a little friendly talk with you 

 about bees and bee-keeiiiiig, etc., etc., 

 but owing to sickness * * * i shall 

 have to be brief." " We hold ourself 

 personally responsible," etc. I think 

 we had better, all of us, give up tliis 

 form of expression, and come down 

 from our majestic stilts to Quaker 

 plainness of speech. Only the "'big 

 man " who really fills tlie editorial 

 chair, has a right to use the magnifi- 

 cent "We, Us & Company," anyhow. 

 Correspondents and advertisers, un- 

 less a firm, should use tlie singular, 



