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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



WHAT DO WL RLQUIRL IN A BLL ? 



An Interesting Review of the Differences 

 In Bees. 



To nine bee-keepers out of ten. bees are 

 bees— no great difference in them. Every 

 bee-keeper of large experience with dif- 

 ferent strains knows that there is a wide 

 difference in many respects, but how very, 

 very few of those who know there is a 

 difference do anything about it. At pres- 

 ent there are few more fruitful fields 

 for the extensive bee-keeper than that of 

 securing the stock that is best suited to 

 his needs. Of the different ways in which 

 bees may vary, in short, for a thorough 

 review of this whole subject, 1 remember 

 to have seen nothing better than a short 

 article from Mr. R. F. Holtermann, that 

 appeared in Gleanings for March 15th. 



Probably in almost every line of live 

 stock found in the class of domestic ani- 

 mals we have ideals mapped out, and 

 then an effort made to breed to that type. 

 In this way we have some, if not all, of 

 our most famous breeds in cattle and 

 sheep. In bees we have not so far been 

 able to control the drone parentage; or if 

 it has been done, as some think, it has not 

 been recognized to any extent. That such 

 control can be secured 1 believe, but this 

 is a matter which, in my estimation, the 

 governments of our countries should take 

 up, as the work is too expensive for the 

 individual bee-keeper to undertake: and 

 if undertaken, and success attained, others 

 would share the fruit of his thought, la- 

 bors, and expense. But with all our un- 

 certainty in the direction of controlling the 

 selection of males, when the importance 

 of breeding is more fully recognized, and 

 we can agree and keep before us a definite 

 type, then some breeder will undertake to 

 locate in a section where he will be isolat- 

 ed, say on an open prairie or the like. Or 

 extensive honey producers will club to- 

 gether or pool their orders so as to con- 

 trol the stock from which their breeder 

 shall propagate. 



But have we ever agreed on a definite 

 type which we may practically desire? 

 and if not, how shall we find out with the 



least trouble if the bee possesses these 

 qualities? Beauty of the bee has been 

 considered, as well as gentleness and 

 tongue reach; but the few who have done 

 this have worked in a more or less dis- 

 connected way. There is much more to 

 do, and the need for a more general 

 awakening as to even these points is 

 plainly evident. It is generally admitted 

 that bees vary greatly, for the reason 

 that colonies apparently similar so far as 

 bees are concerned give vastly different 

 results in gathering honey. Can we, by 

 tests, get more accurate information as 

 to what traits shall be kept for breeding, 

 and what weeded out? 



One in my own country, and of my own 

 country, recently made the assertion that 

 if the black bees had been selected as 

 carefully as some other varieties they 

 would have made as good showing. 1 do 

 not think that this gentleman claimed to 

 have much practical knowledge of bees 

 or of work in the apiary, for 1 think that, 

 when one country is taken with another 

 and time is considered, the black bee has 

 had quite as good a chance to acquit it- 

 self with credit as any other variety. 



There is no use in beginning with any 

 thing less than tbe best strains of the best 

 varieties. I do not breed queens for sale, 

 but 1 have bought hundreds of them, and 

 have even bought from the Arctic Circle. 



Bees vary in size much more than the 

 average bee-keeper thinks without actu- 

 ally measuring by scale. 1 feel sure that 

 I have bees which individually vary in 

 weight thirty-five per cent. We might 

 naturally expect that the larger bee 

 would not only gather the larger load, but 

 would have the strength to press more 

 deeply into the blossoms. We might also 

 hope that it would have a longer tongue 

 reach. 



These matters should be the subject of 

 careful tests and experimental work. 



Again, bees vary as much constitution- 

 ally as do the individuals in other animal 

 families. Some are stronger than others, 

 and can naturally stand more hardship 

 than others. 



We have heard that changing the queen 

 appears to check certain diseases. We 

 have heard of starved brood and the 

 death of this in the cell, and in this con- 

 nection 1 owe Mr. Wm. McEvoy. inspector 

 of apiaries, thanks for drawing my atten- 

 tion to the great difference in the way in 



