no PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 



is what beginners should endeavour to obtain, 

 and when he has it let him yearly breed from 

 the best' queen in the apiary, when in a few 

 seasons he will have bees which will beat/ any of 

 the imported races. It will often be found that 

 the best strains have a little Italian blood in 

 their composition, which may, make them of a 

 rather fiery nature, but this is a detail if the 

 balance sheet comes out right. 



There is another side, however, from which the 

 pure bee question can be viewed. Bees cannot 

 be kept pure in this country, for it is too thickly, 

 populated, and there are too many bees. If pure 

 stock is imported, owing to the peculiar method 

 by which queens are fertilized, it rapidly becomes 

 crossed, and in his endeavours to keep his bees 

 pure the beginner often ignores the important 

 feature of strain altogether. He finally finds him- 

 self with a lot of three-quarter bred Italians, of 

 no particular merit as honey gatherers, but demons 

 to sting. -' 



Mind, I am not decrying these bees if they be 

 used in their native land, as there is no doubt 

 that in their proper element some strains are first- 

 rate. What I do maintain is that in this country, 

 they are inferior to; our own, and if, as some- 

 times happens, foreign bees of an inferior strain 

 are secured, the comparison becomes more strik- 

 ing, so I adhere to my conviction that success 

 is far more likely, if a good strain of the native 

 bee is secured. 



