±0 



fHB BEB-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



This cover is neat and durable, and 

 makes a most convenient seat while ma- 

 nipulating the brood nest. It is absolutel}' 

 water proof, as it carries all drip clear 

 Jroni the hive. It is not an expensive 

 cover, as it only costs 12 cents in the flat, 

 including muslin. I think in time it will 

 become very popular in all arid regions, 

 and I cannot see why it should not in the 

 rainy belt. 



You of the East don't realize what this 

 covering means, where six months of hot 



sunshine will split, and twist, and pull 

 nails, as it does here. 



I have no covers for sale, as I am not 

 in the manufacturing business. I buy my 

 Hoffman frames and pattern slats, and 

 make my own hives and supers, as the 

 flimsy followers in the hives, and the un- 

 satisfactory hive covers of factory-made 

 goods, are not to my liking. 



Long MONT, Colorado. 



Dec. 30, 1901. 



INFLUENCE OF THE DRONE. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Also Something Regarding the Influence 



Of Paint Upon the walls of 



An Exposed Hive. 



'Tis .strange, but true, for truth is always strange- 



l^N his article, beginning on page 299 of 

 i the Review for the year 1901, Mr. 

 Simpson says he does not believe some of 

 my statements, and asks questions, some 

 of which I will try and answer to the best 

 of my ability. He wi.shes to know why I 

 take so narrow a view of the subject, viz., 

 that there cannot well be in-breeding with 

 our bees under the circumstances existing 

 at present. In answering, I speak only 

 from my own experience. 



With 25 years of experience in breeding 

 bees, I have found that nineteen-twenti- 

 eths of my queens have mated drones 

 other than I wished them to, except under 

 the conditions where I had a seeming 

 control with hand-picked drones. Per- 

 haps Mr. Simpson would not call 19 out 

 of 20 "narrow;" and herein we might not 

 agree. On extensive prairies, or isolated 

 islands in the ocean or great lakes, queens 

 may mate their "x-brothers;" but from 

 my own experience, and my experience 

 with hundreds of queens purchased from 

 other parties, I am led to believe that not 

 one queen out of 250 ever so mates, except 



under the condition of some .sort of 

 control. 



It certainly is refreshing to have such a 

 great and scientific breeder as Mr. Simp- 

 son, come out on my side of the partheno- 

 genesis theory, after my being so soundly 

 pummelled during the past for hinting 

 that there might be a fallacy lying un- 

 derneath said theory. And I asked the 

 question which I did partly to draw him 

 out in the matter, and am glad to find 

 him squarely on my side, as against 

 Dzeirzon and others of the noted scien- 

 tists of the past. However, I stand square- 

 ly with both feet on what I wrote for the 

 American Bee Journal, that "the drone is 

 always, practically speaking, the son of 

 his mother." It will be noted that in 

 this quotation I have emphasized one 

 word which was not emphasized in the 

 American Bee Journal article. It took 

 lots of time to make the experiments 

 which I conducted before writing "Scien- 

 tific Queen Rearing;" I l)eing fully ten 

 years at it, and the bees of this country 

 are so mixed up at present, that the 



