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DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO PROGRESSIVE BEE CULTURE. 



VoL XVIII. 



Chicago, 111., March 8, 1882. 



No. 10. 



Published every Wednesday by 



THOMAS C. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor. 



974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



At SS.OO a Tear, In Advance. 



Xi^TOgM^ 



The Cheap Qaeen Traffic. 



|3?~ Remit by money-order, registered letter, ex- 

 press or bank drait on Chicago or New York, pay- 

 able to our order. Such only are at our risk. Checks 

 on local banks cost us '25 cents for collectinK. 



Free of postage in the United States or Canada. 

 Postuffe to £urope SO cents extra. 



Entered at Chicago post office as second class matter. 



TOPICS PRESENTED THIS WEEK. 



Editorial— 



The Cheap Queen Traffic 145 



Honey at rnir State Fair 146 



Food Atlnlterattdna before CODgress I4ft 



Testing the New Races 147 



Items 145, 146, 147 



Amoii^ Our Exchanges — 



Telephone for the Apiary 147 



Adu terated Food 147 



Sweet Clover 148 



Honey from Corn 148 



Continuous Honey Bloom 14« 



One Pound Sections 148 



Seasonable Hints 148 



The " Square List" 148 



Correspondence — 



Does it Pay to Rear Dollar Queens ? 149 



Potatoes rs. Honey Production 149 



BeciniiinE with llees 150 



Olucoae, Foul Brood, etc 150 



Pollen Kssentiiil for Brood-Rearinp 151 



The Dollar Qneon Business 151 



ThlnL'a I Do. anil Do Not Believe 1.52 



The Pollen Theory -One E.vperiment 152 



Trtuperature Required in Winter 153 



Selections from Our Letter Box — 



Increa,«eand Prospects 154 



Under Si/.i^d Bees 154 



A Pr..spcit 154 



Bees in i'lxcoMent Condition 154 



Miicli Food Ctinsumed 1.54 



Wiiiterint: Nicel.v 154 



Bees in Nebraska 155 



Sweet ('lover 1 155 



Sure Cure for Bee Stings 155 



Metiil Kalibets 155 



My BalaoreSheet 155 



From Kentucliy 155 



l.lEht Wanted 155 



» Early 155 



Heddon's Honey-Board 156 



Moldy Combs 156 



A Fair Record 156 



Bees (liithcring Pollen 150 



An Early Start 1.56 



Special Notices— 



The Apiary Register 157 



Binders for Bee Journal 157 



Clubbing Rates 157 



In this issue will be found two arti- 

 cles on tlie subject of rearing cheap 

 queens, which take opposite and ex- 

 treme views regarding the profit 

 deri^'ed by the breeder. The first is a 

 criticism on the article recently from 

 the pen of Rev. A. Salisbury, who 

 took negative grounds, and whose 

 balance-slieet brought him in as a 

 debtor. Ilov^'ever extravagant some 

 of his items may appear to a closer 

 economist, certainly, with his long 

 experience and facilities for econo- 

 mizing, where liis critic might cut 

 under, scores of prudent breeders 

 would far exceed his expenses. The 

 second article, from Mr. Alley, is cor- 

 roborative of the experience of Mr. S. 

 We presume this has been the case 

 with nearly all who have been en- 

 gaged in that traffic as breeders, unless 

 it be those who have made tested 

 queens a specialty, and have availed 

 themselves of the " untested " feature 

 to work off worthless trash. j 



We have long been convinced that | 

 "warranted" or "untested'' queens 

 were not only worthless, but an actual i 

 damage to the bee-keeping interest, j 

 One breeder, wlio has had more expe- 

 rience with cheap-priced queens tlian 

 any other in America, or the World, 

 and has probably reared and sold 

 nearly as many as all the others com- 

 bined, since he engaged in the busi- 

 ness, says tliat " my opinion is, that 

 not one queen out of ten sent out, is 

 worth one cent." Another, who was 

 until recently a very extensive breed- 

 er, in Michigan, of so-called "dollar 

 queens," quit the business in disgust 

 because it was a fraud upon innocent 



purchasers, and remarked that " such 

 were usually not worth twenty-tive 

 cents a dozen." 



That it does open a wide door for 

 fraud no one can deny. It is not long 

 since an extensive Western apiarist 

 and queen-breeder remarked, in the 

 Bee Journal office, that he received 

 an order from a dealer in Ohio for 100 

 queens ; that the party ordering made 

 no stipulation excepting that they 

 were to be the daughters of pure Ital- 

 ian queens. So he examined through 

 his several hundred colonies, and se- 

 lected all the superannuated and 

 worthless ones which he was intend- 

 ing to supersede, and for which he re- 

 ceived 6.5 cents a piece. Of course, he 

 remarked, it was so much saved. 

 Many patrons must have been losers. 



We know there are some, and may 

 be many, fiouest, conscientious breed- 

 ers of untested queens ; but we do not , 

 believe, among them all, there is one 

 who is reckless enough to expect to 

 buy a single queen for $1.00, or 100 

 queens for $65.00, which would be fit 

 to lear even untested queens from ; 

 and if not fit to rear third-rate breed- 

 ers from, it would be a sarcastic com- 

 pliment to any bee-keeper's stock to 

 say they would be cheap to him at any 

 price. 



Wliat bee-keepers in America want 

 is better stock — not cheaper queens; 

 more honey— not lighter yields ; long- 

 er-lived bees— not greater disasters ; 

 certain profits— not doubtful results. 

 We would be glad to know that all 

 queen-breeders are doing a profitable 

 business ; but we certainly would dis- 

 like to learn that any are reaping a 

 harvest at the expense of their custo- 

 mers. The fault is not with the breed- 

 er, let tlu^ stock be what it may, but 

 with tlK' ))uichaser, who demands and 

 expects to get good stock at an unre- 

 munerative iirice, and generally pays 

 dearly for what he buys. 



