THE BEE-KEEPKRS' REVIEW. 



llt> 



usually going still further before the week 

 was out. Now the woods that stretched 

 away for miles and miles have given place 

 to fields of waving grain, and the happy, 

 care-free youth that tramped through them 



with shot-gun over his shoulder has well, 



friend W., we may never he able to go hunt- 

 ing with you, but think of us sometimes. 



The 4- Bee-Keepers' + Review, 



PUBLISHED MONTHIiY. 



W. Z. HUTOEINSON, Editor & Proprietor. 



TERMS:— 50 cents a year in advance, two 

 copies for 95 cents; three for $1.35; five for $2.00; 

 ten or more, 35 cents each; all to be Bent to one 

 POST OFFICE. In clubs to different post offices, 

 NOT liESS than 45 cents each. 



FL/fl/r. MICHIGAN. JULY 10, 1889. 



A HINT TO ADVEETISEKS IN SECURING DESIR- 

 ABLE CUSTOMERS. 



A few months ago, in an editorial upon 

 advertising, we called attention to the diff- 

 erent class of readers that gathers about each 

 periodical. "Like paper, like readers." 

 "Birds of a feather," you know. As an 

 illustration, "That Pittsfield Smith," in 

 ordering his advertisement continued an- 

 other year, says : "I like the tone of the 

 Review, and the class of trade secured by 

 my advertisements therein. As I am now 

 situated, I would not give $.5.00 a iKuje for 

 advertising space in (mention- 

 ing another bee - paper ) , as every cus- 

 tomer wants me to give him poor goods at 

 Unv prices. No satisfaction in such a deal 

 for me." As the Review is devoted more 

 particularly to advanced and financial bee- 

 culture, it naturally gathers about it a class 

 of practical readers whose years of experi- 

 ence have taught them that ejccellence is 

 more desirable than cheapness. 



WHAT DEPENDS UPON THE QUEEN ? 



It is very evident that much does, or at 

 least can, depend upon tlie queen. A queen 

 that from age, or any other cause, does not 

 keep her combs tilled with brood in the 

 spring, that allows the bees to get the start 

 of her and crowd her out with honey, places 

 her colony in a condition to be of little value. 

 If the field is stocked to its fullest profitable 

 capacity, if we are endeavoring to secure all 

 the honey in our area, this may not be so 



great a misfortune as it appears, as the 

 honey that would have been gathered by this 

 colony, had it prospered, is left for the other 

 colonies to store. Still, we are not all so 

 situated, and, even if we were, there would 

 be no proUt in such colonies. We need 

 queens that will till their combs with brood 

 in the spring. It is during the first two years 

 of their lives, that (jueens, as a rule, do their 

 best work : and while we believe that most 

 bee-keepers would prefer to have their 

 queens under that age, we doubt if it will 

 pay, as a rule, to supersede them. It must 

 be admitted, however, that some most excel- 

 lent bee-keepers make a practice of rearing 

 queens each year, and superseding old 

 queens. We believe Mr. Manum does this. 

 Bees are far less likely to swarm with a 

 young queen ; and, when swarming is un- 

 desirable, here is another instance where the 

 <iueen may have a bearing upon success. 

 But all these comparisons of the improve- 

 ments in cattle, poultry, fruit, etc., with 

 improvements in bees, are not, to our mind, 

 exactly in point. Care and feed in the case 

 of the stock ; manure and cultivation with 

 plants; and selection and cross-breeding in 

 the case of both, have worked the improve- 

 ments. Care and feed, chaff hives and cel- 

 lars, planting for honey, feeders, all this 

 fostering care that we have given our bees, 

 has it improved them ? Nay. We fear that 

 some of our correspondents have overlooked 

 the fact that improvement of bees lies in a 

 different direction from that of cattle, poul- 

 try iind fruits. The law of the " survival of 

 the fittest" pushes to the wall, in cattle, 

 fruit, etc., the very qualities that we desire ; 

 while, in bees, there is not a desirable trait 

 that is not developed and cherished by this 

 same law. If we have any better bees than 

 we had a centuut' ago, it is not the result of 

 better care, in the sense in which that word 

 is usually employed, that of better shelter, 

 better food, etc., but it is the result of cross- 

 breeding and selection ; and we look upon 

 the queen simply as the connecting link be- 

 tween two generations — as a sort of "seed." 

 It is true that as the seed is, so is the plant ; 

 but it is equally true that as the plant is so 

 is the seed ; and we are inclined to look with 

 a more critical eye upon the stock or strain 

 from which a seed is secured, than upon the 

 individual seed. It is true there is some- 

 fhiny in having good seed, that that is well 

 developed and possessed of a strong vitality; 

 and the same is true of queens ; and while 



