THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



259 



Kvery bee-keeper who has had experience 

 with several strains of bees knows that some are 

 far superior to others — that there is scrub stock 

 among bees, just as there are scrub horses, cat- 

 tle, sheep and poultry. 



l,et me give my own experience: Years ago, 

 while living at Rogersville, I made a specialty of 

 rearing queens for sale. Before engaging in 

 this work, I bought queens, and Italianized, not 

 onlj- my own bees, but all within three miles of 

 my apiary. In buying those queens I think I 

 patronized nearly every breeder in the United 

 States; and, even in those j-ears of inexperience, 

 I was not long in noting the great difference in 

 the different strains of bees. The queens from 

 one particular breeder produced bees that de- 

 lighted me greatly. They were just plain, dark, 

 three-banded Italians, but, as workers, I have 

 never .seen them equaled. They seemed posses- 

 sed of a .steady, quiet determination that enabled 

 them to lay up surplus ahead of the others. 

 Easier bees to handle I have never seen. Their 

 honey was capped with a snowy whiteness 

 rivaling that of the blacks. In addition, they 

 were hardy. If any bees came through the win- 

 ter, it was colonies of this strain. They came as 

 near being ideal bees as any I have ever posses- 

 sed. All this was more than twenty years ago; 

 but, several times since, I have bought queens 

 of this breeder, and I always found this strain 

 of bees pos.ses.sed of those same good qualities — 

 industry, gentleness, hardiness and a disposition 

 to cap their honey white. I frequently corres- 

 ponded with this breeder, and with those who 

 had bought queens of him, and, finally, I became 

 thoroughly convineed that he had a strain of 

 bees far superior to the general run of stock. 

 Whether this superiority results from length of 

 tongue, about which there has been so much 

 talk the past year, I do not know, but I do know 

 that no bees have been found with greater 

 tongue-length. 



This breeder had always advortised in a quiet, 

 unassuming .sort of way, nothing in proportion 

 to what the quality of his stock would have war- 

 ranted, when, two years ago, I decided that I 

 could help him, and Ix-nefit my readers, at a 

 profit to mj'.self, by advertising these bees in a 

 manner befittingly energetic. I put the price at 



Ji. 50, but the conditions were such that it was 

 impossible for any loss to fall upon a purchaser. 

 The queens sent out were young queens just be- 

 ginning to lay, but I guaratiteed safe arrival, 

 safe introduction, purity of mating, and satis- 

 faction to the extent that, any time within two 

 years, a purchaser could return the queen for 

 any cause whatever, if he was not satisfied with 

 her, and his money would be refunded, and 50 

 cents additional sent to pay him for his trouble. 

 I have sold several hundred queens, sending 

 them to all parts of the United States, and I have 

 been asked to return the money in just one 

 INSTANCE. I don't mean by this that no other 

 complaint has been made, for there have been 

 others, but in the other ca.ses purchasers have 

 verj' kindly allowed me to send other queens 

 in place of those that did not pro\'e satisfactory. 

 Even with the best of stock and management 

 there will occasionally be a poor queen. Possi- 

 bly long journeys by mail have some bearing 

 upon this part of the question. I,osses in ship- 

 ment are not serious; losses in introduction are 

 not serious, unless it is during the dearth be- 

 tween the summer and fall honey-flows; mis- 

 mated queens are not worth considering, they 

 don't exceed one percent.; but all of these losses 

 have cheerfully been made good, and will con- 

 tinue to be made good in the future. 



As to testimonials, regarding thei"" superior- 

 ity, I could fill page after page with them. I 

 have occasionally published a few, but what is 

 theu.se? Any one can try this strain without 

 taking a particle of risk. 



From the very first, the demand has been 

 greater than the supply. The opening of the 

 .season usually finds me with at least 200 orders 

 on hand. Any one wishing to try one of these 

 queens, ought to order it .some little time in 

 advance, as orders are booked and filled in rota- 

 tion. I am still offering them at the same price 

 and under the same conditions as before, viz., 

 $1.50 for a queen alone, fully guaranteed as 

 above stated, or a queen and the Review for one 

 year for only $2.00. This offer is open to either 

 old or new subscribers. If you wish to try 

 one of these queens, better send in your order 

 together with a subscription to the Review — 

 remember, $2.00 pays for both. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Michigan. 



