THK REE-KEEPEKS' REVIEW. 



57 



the fact that the Review has, until the 

 last few months, been strictly utilitarian; 

 and. even during the last year, three- 

 fourths of its contents have been of that 

 class. He is also so short-sighted as not 

 to see that a discussion that leads to an 

 improvement in stock would "help him 

 to get more honey. " It is only fair, how- 

 ever, to say that I also received many 

 letters of praise, and commendation, for 

 the thoroughness with which this impor- 

 tant subject was being discussed. 



The great mass of bee-keepers desire to 

 be told /low to do t/ii?is;s. This is ^vhat 

 the journals have told them in the past, 

 and it is probable that the journals w-ill 

 continue largeh* in this line. 



It must not be forgotten, however, that 

 the status of bee-keeping is constant!}' 

 changing. I"ew of us seem to realize 

 that the beginning of modern bee-keep- 

 ing is not more than 50 years in the past. 

 I'irst came the movable comb hive — the 

 foundation of modern bee culture — then 

 followed the honey extractor, comb foun- 

 dation, the bellows-smoker, the section 

 honev-box, queen-excluding zinc, and 

 the many minor devices. It is onh- nat- 

 ural that bee-keepers should be interested 

 in knowing how to use all of these things 

 — should be interested in uianipiilatioji . 

 It was not until these things came, and 

 men had learned how to use them, that 

 bee-keeping came to be regarded as a 

 business. Now, some of the far-seeing 

 men have found that the business is even 

 capable of expansion beyond a single 

 apiary — that a comfortable competency, 

 and, in some cases, a moderate fortune, 

 awaits the man who rightly manages out- 

 apiaries in desirable localities. Others 

 have learned, to their sorrow, that, as the 

 ll country is cleared up. there are localities 

 in which commercial bee-keeping is un- 

 profitable. On the other hand, the capa- 

 bilities of the great West are now attract- 

 ing attention. We are also beginning to 

 see, and profit by, the advantages of or- 

 ganization and co-operation. 



It will be seen that conditions are con- 

 stantly changing. One feature becomes 



paraiiiount, receives our attention, and 

 then, as conditions change, something 

 else takes its place, as needing our first 

 and best efiforts. l-'irst came mechanical 

 invention; then methods for managing 

 the new appliances; later came the matter 

 of pasturage, or over-stocking, or the es- 

 tablishing of out-apiaries; and now some 

 attention is being turned to organization. 

 Through all of these years very little has 

 been done looking toward the improve- 

 ment of stock. See what has been done 

 with horses, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry, 

 etc. I well know that w^e have not the 

 control of mating that we have with other 

 lines of stock; but queens haz'e been fer- 

 tilized in tents, and all that is required is 

 more intellegent experimenting along 

 that line, to learn the exact conditions 

 needed for success. Besides this, there 

 are methods, like isolation, or inducing 

 the flight of queens and drones at such 

 times as the great herd of ordinar}' drones 

 are not in flight, whereby we can secure 

 desirable matings with sufficient certainty 

 for most practical purposes — 3'es, by keep- 

 ing drone comb out of undesirable colon 

 ies, or by the use of drone traps, and the 

 rearing of large quantities of drones from 

 desirable colonies, we can do much in 

 the way of securing desirable matings. 

 As the Bee Journal says, even if no greater 

 control than at present is ever reached, a 

 thorough knowledge of all that can be 

 learned about breeding may be turned to 

 account: and with the possibilit}- that 

 fertilization in confinement may yet be- 

 come a practical success, it is well to be 

 prepared for it in advance. 



Bee-keepers well know that there is a 

 difference in bees; that there is scrub 

 stock among them just as there is among 

 cattle, sheep and poultry. Instances are 

 not lacking where one strain of bees was 

 storing surplus, while another was starv- 

 ing, while differences in a lesser degree 

 have been reported by the hundreds. 

 .\ny bee-keeper of experience does not 

 need to depend upon these reports; he 

 has seen instances right in his own apiary. 

 Who is there who has not said to himself 



