THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



249 



loads, or make the most trips. But even 

 if I knew all these things I might yet be a 

 little puzzled to know which queen to 

 breed from if 1 had nothing else to judge 

 by. 



If we turn our attention to practical re- 

 sults, instead of looking for the causes of 

 those results, the decision is much easier. 

 We want the bees that will store the 

 largest quantity of the most marketable 

 honey, and they must be gentle enough so 

 that we can hcndle them. Those are the 

 requirements in a nutshell. 



To take a case from my own practice: 

 The season last year was nearly a fail- 

 ure, but 1 had one colony that produced 

 honey to the value of $1 1.00, besides 

 their own stores. The next best gave a 

 net return of S6.00; several others of 

 S5.00, or nearly that. It would be in- 

 teresting to know what combination of 

 qualities caused those bees to go so far 

 above the average, but such knowledge 

 would probably make no difference in the 

 selection of a breeding-queen. As it hap- 

 pened, all the best colonies were gentle, 

 and all were pure Italians, and so were 

 more likely than hybrids to hold those 

 qualities in the next generation. Other 

 things being equal, of course the colony 

 storing the greatest amount of honey 

 would be chosen. But the best colony 

 produced watery cappings, and so was 

 not suitable for comb honey. The point 1 

 am aiming at now is this: That the quali- 

 ties enumerated by Mr. Holtermann are 

 important only as they affect the honey 

 crop; and of the honey produced we have 

 a ready means of judging. 



In regard to controlling the drone par- 

 entage, 1 think the best we can do is to 

 follow Dr. Miller's plan. If one has more 

 than one apiary, keep all the best colonies 

 at the home yard — that is, those that gave 

 the best records the previous season. 

 Then do all your queen-rearing at the 

 home apiary, and let the drone question 

 take care of itself. Where we have a 

 hundred colonies in one place, the mating 

 with drones from other sources will not 

 exceed five per cent. If we are to make 

 any improvement in our stock, it is quite 

 as important to weed out the poorest as 

 it is to breed from the best. 



BLL-KLLPING A5 A BUSINESS. 



Some Hints About Learning the Business 

 and Then Sticking to it. 



You know that the Review believes in 

 making a business of bee-keeping, of 



dropping all other entangling alliances, 

 and turning the whole time, attention and 

 talents in this one direction. Learn the 

 business thoroughly, select a good location, 

 and then make a business of the business. 

 Right in this line is a short item in the last 

 issue of Gleanings, that I would like to 

 copy. It was written by my friend J. E. 

 Crane, of Vermont, and reads as follows: 



A good deal is being written these days 

 about whether it is safe to depend on 

 bee-kesping alone for a livelihood, or 

 whether it should be combined with some 

 other business. Now, 1 see no reason why 

 a little good reason should not be applied 

 to this subject as well as to others. To 

 expect a man to succeed in raising wheat 

 on the hills of Colorado, or peaches in 

 Minnesota, or in lumbering on the prairies 

 of Illinois is on a par with expecting a man 

 to succeed in bee-keeping where little or 

 no honey is to be had. Of course, he must 

 have a location that is fairly well adapted 

 to his business. 



Again, why should we expect a man to 

 succeed in producing honey before he has 

 thoroughly learned the business than to 

 expect a wheelwright or carpenter or 

 glass-blower or merchant or manufac- 

 turer, until he has thoroughly mastered 

 his own kind of business ? 



We find in all trades and professions 

 those who fail as well as in bee-keeping- - 

 those who meet with moderate success as 

 well as those who have achieved enviable 

 success. 



The fruit-grower, the farmer, as well 

 as the merchant or manufacturer, have 

 their poor years when it is difficult to 

 make both ends meet. The same is true 

 of the bee-keeper. Ability counts in this 

 business the same as in all other lines of 

 effort. It is certainly true that a man 

 can keep a few bees, a little dairy, and 

 some poultry, and not meet with as great 

 extremes as with any one kind of busi- 

 ness: but I doubt if he can make all of 

 them pay as well as if only one kind is 

 followed. 



If the venerable and kind-hearted 

 Quinby were living today with all our im- 

 proved modern appliances I very much 

 doubt if he would advise any very large 

 mixture of other kinds of business with 

 his bee-keeping. The only kind of busi- 

 ness I would add would be "more bees." 



It is quite likely that there sometimes 

 comes a time when a bee-keeper, or any 

 man, for that matter, has a feeling come 

 over him that some other business would 



