i88 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Several times in my life have I seriously con- 

 sidered the idea of attempting the developement 

 of a superior strain of bees. I knew that it 

 would require years of careful, patient, persist- 

 ent work in the waj' of selection, crossing, test- 

 ing, etc., and there have always .seemed to be 

 too many other irons in the fire for me to make 

 room for this one. Sometime I may make the 

 attempt; at present, however, I am glad to know 

 that one man, by giving twenty j'ears of his life 

 to the work, has met with a fair measure of suc- 

 cess. I have reference to the breeder mentioned 

 in my last advertisement of .superior stock. Be- 

 ing a little curious to know along what lines he 

 had worked, I asked him to tell me, and from 

 his letter I make the following extract: — 



In regard to the origin of my strain of Italians, 

 I would say that they were developed by selec- 

 tion and crossing. The first Italian queen that 

 I ever possessed was of the Thos. G. Newman 

 stock. The next was of A. I. Root's red-clover 

 stock; purcha.sed in 1881. In 18S2, I purchased 

 one of friend Root's best imported queens, for 

 which I paid $6.00. She was a valuable queen, 

 indeed; producing workers which were hardy 

 and regular hustlers for gathering honey. I 

 stocked my apiary with her daughters, saving 

 only a few queens of the other stock to furnish 

 drones. This gave me a direct cross, which, I 

 think, is the secret of my success. 



In 1S83 I found one of the daughters of the 

 Root imported queen far out - stripping every- 

 thing in the yard in the way of honey-gath- 

 ering and comb-building; and her bees cap- 

 ped their honey so white that it made it ap- 

 pear the most beautiful comb honey I ever 

 saw. In this cjueen I had an acquisition. I used 

 her as a breeding queen. Her bees were not as 

 handsome as the Newman stock; but beautiful 

 HONEY attracted my eye and pocket-book more 

 than fancy bees. 



Permit me to say right here that I fear that 

 about nine out of every ten queen breeders make 

 the mistake of breeding for color; sacrificing 

 business qualities. 



I love to look at the beautiful, golden, five- 

 banded Italians; and I wish that they were as 

 good for business as the regular three-banded 

 Italians; but I have tried them and found them 

 sadly wanting. 



The queen from which I am now breeding is a 

 wonderful queen, to say the least. Her bees are 

 excellent honej'-gatherers; and came through 

 the past .severe winter in fine shape; and are now 

 just HooMiNC. I would not part with this queen 

 for One Hundrfd Dollars ! 



This breeder has always advertised in a mod- 

 e.st, quiet, unassuming sort of way, nothing in 

 proportion to what the quality of his .stock would 



have warranted, and at la.st I have decided that I 

 can help him. and benefit my readers, at a prof- 

 it to myself, by advertising these bees in a man- 

 ner befittingly energetic. 



The price of these queens will be $1.50 each. 

 This may seem like a high price, but the man 

 who paj-s it will make dollars where this breed- 

 er and myself make cents; and when you come 

 to read the conditions under which they are .sold, 

 it will not seem so high. The queens sent out 

 will all be young queens, just beginning to lay, 

 but, as there are no black bees in the vicinitj', it 

 is not likely that any will prove impurelj- mated. 

 If anj- queen should prove to be impurely mat- 

 ed, another will be sent free of charge. .Safe 

 arrival in first-class condition will be guaranteed. 

 Instructions for introducing will be sent to each 

 purchaser, and if these instructions are followed, 

 and the queen is lost, another will be sent free 

 of charge. This is not all; if, at any time within 

 two years, a purchaser, for any reason wh.\t- 

 EVER, is not satisfied with his bargain, he can 

 return the queen, and his money will be refund- 

 ed, and 50 cents extra sent to pay him for his 

 trouble. It will be seen that the purchaser runs 

 NO RISK WH.\TEVER. If a quceii does not arrive 

 in good condition, another is sent. If he loses her 

 in introducing, another is sent. If she should 

 prove impurely mated, another is sent. If the 

 queen proves a poor layer, or the stock does not 

 come up to the expectations, or there is .■^nv re.T- 

 son wliy the bargain is not satisfactory, the 

 queen can be returned and the money will be re- 

 funded, and the customer fairly well paid for his 

 trouble. I could not make thi.slasl promi.se if I did 

 not KNOW that the stock is really superior. 



I said that the price would be ;?i.5o each. There 

 is only one condition under which a queen w^ill 

 be sold for a less price, and that is in connection 

 with an advance subscription to the Review. 

 Anj' one who has already paid me, or who will 

 pay me, Ji.oo for the Re\-iew for 1S99, can have a 

 queen for Ji.oo. Of cour.se, all arrearages pre- 

 vious to 1899 must be paid up before this offer 

 will hold good. This special offer is made with a 

 view to the getting of new subscribers, and as 

 an inducement to old subscribers to pay up all 

 arrearages and to pay in advance to the end of 

 the j^ear. 



W. Z, HUTCHINSON, FLINT, MICHIGAN. 



