54 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Stand, applying to the last ten years, 

 that there has been an improvement in 

 the bee's gentleness. My experience is 

 that it is an unknown quantity when 

 you introduce a new race, or a new 

 blood, as to whether that will be an im- 

 provement in the crossing of blood; but 

 there has doubtless been great improve- 

 ment, and there are constant improve- 

 ments in the rearing of queens and cut- 

 ting out of ill bees. And there is where 

 the great improvement is made, cutting 

 out the ill bees instead of trying to 

 get a new cross by introducing new 

 blood; and where I find a queen on a 

 colony of bees that is ill I do away with 

 that queen; and a cross of one race 

 with another, so far as I have observed, 

 almost invaribly makes an ill-natured 

 bee, and is hard to handle. 



Dr. Bohrer — I will say that 42 years 

 ago, in 1864, I got my first Italian 

 queens, and I used to handle those 

 bees without any protection whatever 

 on my face and hands; but in 1901, 

 when I again fell into line with the 

 bee-keepers, I did not find it that way. 

 The bees were cross, and stung me on 

 every side if possible, but not always. 

 Those bees that I speak of 42 years 

 ago, once in awhile they would sting 

 me, but on other days they would not; 

 but I never undertake such a thing now 

 as to handle them without my face and 

 hands well protected, and sometimes 

 they do not sting me at all while other 

 times may be 100 will sting me, but 

 whether it is due to the climatic in- 

 fluence or the nature of the bee I am 

 unable to say. These good bees were 

 rare in Indiana, but I do know that 

 they are crosser as a rule. I have got 

 rid of some of those cross bees by in- 

 troducing a new strain, but taking it 

 all in all I doubt whether I have suc- 

 ceeded. I say, push it to its fullest 

 extent, so that nobody will be deceived, 

 and if they prove as good as I think 

 they will, as good honey-producers and 

 not so good-natured, it would be wise 

 to adopt them, but it would be prema- 

 ture to conclude that they were an im- 

 provement upon another bee in disposi- 

 tion; they may be, but will they prove 

 to be a profit? I don't think we are 

 prepared to answer this question. 



Mr. Kemper — I think I made an ad- 

 vancement so far as gentleness is un- 

 derstood. Is it to introduce a bee that 

 will not sting, or one better-natured ? 

 I don't believe that I have made an 



advancement as to introducing a gentle 

 strain of bees. 



Mr. Smith — Now the question is. Has 

 any progress been made- in improving 

 the gentleness of the bees by breeding 

 for that result? I want to ask the 

 queen-rearers, How many of you have 

 bred queens for that single purpose? 

 I, as a rule, have found that most queen- 

 rearers have been breeding queens for 

 color, and long tongue and honey-gath- 

 ering. Now, conditions depend a great 

 deal upon the gentleness of the bees. 

 Take a year like this, in Illinois you 

 never saw bees crosser than they are 

 this year. I visited probably 1,000 

 apiaries over the State and I want to 

 say there were very few places I was 

 not secure as to hands and face and 

 sometimes it was almost impossible to 

 control them with dense smoke. I 

 think it depends a good deal upon con- 

 ditions. That has been my experience. 



Mr. Reed — So far as the queen-breed- 

 ers of Texas are concerned, I am bound 

 to take the negative side of this ques- 

 tion, so far as those I have patronized. 

 I don't believe that the breeders of 

 Texas are breeding as gentle a race as 

 they did a few years ago. I attribute 

 it to the Cyprian blood they are intro- 

 ducing. 



E. J. Atchley — I think that question 

 can be answered in one word. There 

 has been progress made, and it seems 

 to me that queen-breeders ought to 

 answer this. If they think it is the part 

 of the, honey-producers to answer this, 

 from my own part I think there have 

 been improvements within the last ten 

 years in the rearing of queen-bees. 



Mr. Jouno — I think it is due to hav- 

 ing better facilities for handling bees, 

 and a better understanding of them. Jis 

 to ten years ago, it seems to me they are 

 more gentle. 



Mr. Chambers — I wish to say that for 

 my own work within the past 6 years 

 I have used improved Carniolan queens, 

 and they produce strong hon^ey-gatherers. 

 There has not been a year that I have 

 not introduced new stock, and I find 

 them to be more gentle than when I 

 allow them to run on for several years. 



O. P. Hyde — I have had some ex- 

 perience in the queen-breeding business 

 for several years, and I have had several 

 races. I had a yard with 5-banded and 

 3-banded, the Carniolan, Italian and 

 Holyland, and my experience has been 

 that where I stuck to the Italian bees 



