^W*T '''^:^jf:j*WWxSi'' 



112 



THIRD ANNUAL REPORT 



there was just enouarh to make the officers, and it was adver- 

 tised that at a certain time we would meet at some promi- 

 nent bee-keeper's place. It was right in the midst of quite a 

 number of bee-keepers. Instead of three members we had 50. 



Mr. France — There was a bee-keepers' organization com- 

 menced in Grant County, Wis., by E. France and his son, and 

 that's all who were there. We advertised it through the local 

 papers, and those right in our own county didn't even come. 

 In two years we had over sixty. They organized. 



Mr. York — I have heard of a father and son having 

 an enthusiastic time, but it was in the woodshed. That's 

 not the case here, perhaps. 



LONG-TONGUED BEES AND THEIR WORK. 



"Do the so-called long-tongued bees work to much extent 

 on red clover?" 



Dr. Miller — There is no question but that the hive- 

 bee does sometimes work upon red clover. There is no 

 question in my mind, and no question in your mind, that the 

 red clover blossom is too deep for most bees to work upon, 

 and there is no question in my mind but what a bee with 

 an unusually long tongue has a better chance on those blos- 

 soms than one with a short tongue, so I believe that they 

 do work to a considerable extent on it, and I believe that 

 some of our bees, where we don't expect it, work on it. The 

 question that is really down at the bottom of that is : Is it 

 worth while for us to work for long-tongued bees, or pay 

 any attention to that? Admitting all the value, I don't be- 

 lieve that it is worth while for me to pay any attention to 

 which of my colonies have long tongues or short tongues. 

 The thing I look for is which colony gives me the best crop 

 of honey. When I do that, I am very likely getting the long 

 tongues. I want the ones that get the honey. I think very 

 likely you will get them when you do breed from your best 

 colonies. I don't believe we need to talk much about it, 

 but to breed from the colonies that will give us the most 

 honey. Now allow me to defer from that point, and say 

 that I believe that if you work — that if any man here who is 

 six miles from me — ^works in his own apiary trying to im- 

 prove his stock by breeding from his bees that give him the 

 most honey he is helping me six miles away, and every one 

 of us. You may say it is very small; but it is that much. 

 It isn't that one man should work to improve his stock, 

 but we all should. If you keep good stock and my bees 

 meet your drones — although if you are six miles away that 

 won't happen — ^but still, the thing is extending, and one of 

 the things we need to do is to get bee-keepers at large to 

 understand it is an important thing that each one should 

 breed from his best stock. 



Mr. Longsdon — My experience has been that my best 

 yields has nearly always been from the hybrid bee. That 

 would encourage breeding from mixed races of bees. I had 

 some long-tongued bees and they weren't satisfactory to me. 

 They are nice to handle, and I like them first-rate, and the 



