THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



season I proceed to mark each colony, 

 taking into consideration tlie amount 

 of lioney ihey tiave stored, making 

 proper allowance if extracted ; their 

 condition at the opening of the honey 

 season and at its close; the vigor with 

 which they work on the early pollen 

 in spring ; the weight of the colony in 

 the fall. In the case of a young swarm 

 I estimate the weight of the swarm 

 when hived, and proceed as before. 



After a careful consideration of all 

 these points, I mark all the colonies 

 that have given the best results at 75; 

 those next the best at 70 and so on 

 down ; lOU is supposed to be a standard 

 to be sought for but not yet attained. 

 I rear my queens from those wliich 

 stand the highest, and allow no 

 colony to rear any drones that is 

 marked below 75. I change the queens 

 of all colonies marked below 50,atonce. 

 The next season, if I find any colony 

 that beats the best record of the pre- 

 vious year I mark them 80, and so on 

 up. After raising the standard of the 

 best to So, I raise that of the poorest 

 to (30; that is, I change the queens of 

 all those that are marked below (iO. 

 By this method of culling the best for 

 breeding purposes and destroying the 

 poorest queens, I have improved my 

 bees to that extent that, at the " an- 

 nual marking" last fall the best stood 

 at ;i5 and the lowest at 75. 1 am cog- 

 nizant of the fact that, without the 

 aid of an Apiary Ilegister I never 

 could have obtained sucli satisfactory 

 results in breeding, whicli have ex- 

 ceeded my most sanguine expectations. 



2. Docility. The next space in 

 order is headed Docility. xVlthough 

 secondary to some others, this is a 

 valuable trait in a good strain of bees, 

 and it is well to develop it as much as 

 possible without interfering with 

 other and more Important qualities. 

 No one will probably have any trouble 

 in tilling up this space, but I would 

 suggest that, in deciding on the rela- 

 tive docility of colonies, they be 

 manipulated on the same day and at 

 the same time of day, using an even 

 quantity of smoke and equal care. 

 Any deviation from this rule will re- 

 sult in an inaccurate marking, as tlie 

 atmospheric changes exert a great in- 

 fluence on the temper of the bees. 



3. Hardiness. This is one of the 

 most important qualities which an im- 



f roved strain of bees can possess, and 

 earnestly recommend a careful con- 

 sideration of this point. I apprehend 

 that the solution of the wintering 

 problem depends in a measure on 

 breeding hardy bees ; I speak from 

 experience, having lost oidy two colo- 

 nies during the last ten years, a result 

 which is attributable as much to my 

 bees being of a strong, hardy race, as 

 to any improved methods of wintering. 

 In marking the hardiness of colonies, 

 great care and judgment is required. 

 I always take into consideration their 

 exact condition in fall; their condition 

 when taken from their winter-quar- 

 ters ; how they stand the tirst cold 

 winds of spring, etc. As hardiness 

 must liave an indirect influence on the 

 amount of honey which the bees will 

 store, I presume the colonies giving 

 the best results to be the most hardy 

 as well as industrious, all other things 



being equal. Any argument in regard 



to this point will be out of the limits 

 of this article, but if my meaning is 

 not sufficiently plain, I shall be pleased 

 to make it more clear at some future 

 time. 



4. I'rolilicness. In lilling up this 

 space I give particular attention to the 

 strength of the colony. It is not al- 

 ways the strongest colonies in spring 

 that contain the most prolilic queens. 

 A colony, althougli strong in the fall, 

 may become depopulated from some 

 cause or causes entirely beyond the 

 control of the apiarist ; therefore, a 

 small colony in spring is not a sure 

 indication of an unprolitic queen. It 

 seems to me the only correct way to 

 mark them is to consider the amount 

 of brood in proportion to tlie strength 

 of each colony. 



5. Color. I select the largest, best 

 shaped queens, having an abdomen 

 all yellow, and that produces the 

 largest, finest and most uniformly 

 marked bees as a standard, and com- 

 pare all others to her. In this way I 

 can mark every queen'very accurately. 



In conclusion, I wish to again call 

 your attention to the value, aye, the 

 necessity of an Apiary Register in 

 breeding an improved strain of bees. 

 If bee-keepers in general will get a 

 Register, and keep a careful and con- 

 cise record of every queen and colony. 

 It will not be long before our Ameri- 

 can Italians will have a World-wide 

 reputation. It may not be improper 

 for me to say here, that I have already 

 had several calls for queens, from 

 Scotland, Germany and other parts of 

 Europe, to be shipped during the com- 

 ing summer. I have kept a Register 

 similar to the one Mr. Newman has 

 just gotten up, for a great many years, 

 and I believe my success in breeding 

 the present princely strain of Italians 

 is due in a great measure to this fact. 



Coleraine, Mass. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Foundatlou for Surplus. 



C. C. MILLEll. 



Instead of using small starters I 

 practice lilling the sections full of 

 foundation. This makes me anxious 

 to find and use that which is the very 

 best for the purpose, and I am glad of 

 any light I can get on the subject. I 

 am inclined to believe that unneces- 

 sary ado has been made about the 

 '■ fish-bone," and that in many cases 

 more of a '-fish-bone" than many sup- 

 pose, can be found in the natural comb. 

 Still, I think the utmost care should 

 be taken to leave no room for objec- 

 tion, and our combs should equal as 

 nearly as may be, or, if possible, excel 

 the natural comb. 



So rapid are the changes and im- 

 provements in foundation that it is 

 difficult for anyone to keep track of 

 them all. As yet I liave only tried tlie 

 Root, Dunham and Van Deusen, and 

 can only give my experience for what 

 it is worth. This season I shall try 

 the Vandervort and Given. The flat 

 bottomed or Van Deusen I do not like 

 so well as the others, and although 

 some think the Dunham is not suit- 



able for surplus, I had a lot of 70 lbs. 

 that pleased me well. It ran less than 

 6 feet to tlie pound, but the base or 

 septum was very thin. Some Root 

 foundation running 10 feet to the 

 pound was nice, but was made in nar- 

 row pieces, was crooked, and did not 

 cut to advantage. 



In the present unsettled state of 

 afiairs I do not know that it is possi- 

 ble, but for those who use foundation 

 by the 100 pounds it is certainly desir- 

 able that there should be some settled 

 understanding as to what consitutes 

 thin foundation, and the proper price 

 therefor. 



For one, I am not anxious to have 

 foundation running so many feet to 

 the pound provided the middle wall or 

 base is thin, for if it has high side 

 walls and tlie bees will thin it out, I 

 think it will be a gain. But founda- 

 tion 10 feet to the pound cannot be 

 afforded for the same price as that 

 running 6 feet to the pound, even if 

 the base of each be exactly the same 

 in thickness. The custom of charging 

 10 cents per pound extra for surplus 

 foundation is well enough if that 

 much difference is in the making, but 

 when I am charged the same price for 

 foundation running 7 feet to the pound 

 with the wax mostly or altogether in 

 the base, as is charged for 10 foot foun- 

 dation, I feel that I am not getting 

 the best end of the bargain. If any 

 uniformity can be established, it will 

 be a blessing. 



Marengo,Ill. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Section Honey Boxes. 



A. D. STOCKING. 



Mr. E. A. Thomas, in the Bee Jour- 

 nal for January 25th, objects to the 

 one-piece sections, altliough my ex- 

 perience with sections has been lim- 

 ited, I think the one-piece section the 

 strongest and quickest put together, 

 and it certainly is the neatest ; it will 

 stand more jarring and careless hand- 

 ling without cracking the combs than 

 either the dovetailed or nailed section. 

 I have never seen any dovetailed sec- 

 tions that would not get loose in the 

 joint after being put together, stand- 

 ing awhile and getting dry, and the 

 least jar racks them out of shape. 

 Propolis will not hold them when it is 

 cold, they require the joints to be 

 dipped in glue to be safe. This is my 

 experience with dovetailed sections. 



As to breaking in putting the one- 

 piece section together, if they are 

 made from good stuff there need not 

 be one in a hundred broken; take a 

 sponge dipped in water and draw 

 across the joints and pack them close 

 for a short time, and they will bend 

 nicely, and if a small paint brush be 

 dipped in hot glue and drawn ;icross 

 the joints, they will be perfectly se- 

 cure. It will take but a few minutes' 

 practice to get the knack of putting 

 them together so that they can be done 

 (even with the gluing) faster than 

 the dove-tail can be put together. I 

 have no interest in the manufacture 

 or sale of any section. 



Ligonier, Ind. 



