78 ALEXANDER’S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 
queen is failing to keep her hive well filled with brood without any 
apparent cause, then we supersede her in early summer; for if she 
is kept until fall the colony will have but little brood, will be weak 
in bees, and the young queen we give them will start so little brood 
that the chances are the colony will be dead in the spring, or so weak 
in bees that it will be almost worthless. But if the queens we wish 
to supersede are in full strong colonies, with their hives well filled 
with brood, then to buy queens in the fall for these colonies is all 
right; and if the new queen does not start much brood she will still 
have a good colony to winter in. 
These are very important points that should never be overlooked in 
superseding our queens. I want a queen to occupy the hive she is to 
winter in at least 40 days before the breeding season closes. This 
gives her time to become acquainted with the colony and fill the brood- 
nest once or twice with brood. If we all look to this part of our 
business as we should we shall have fewer weak colonies in the spring, 
and in the end we shall have more surplus, and secure it with much 
less labor. 
.; Another question I am frequently asked is, “What is the opinion 
“of the farmers in your locality in regard to the effect of your bees 
_working on their buckwheat-fields?” 
~ Some 25 years ago, when we came to Delanson, it was almost the 
Muiversal opinion that our bees would injure their buckwheat so as to 
make the crop almost worthless, but the farmers soon changed their 
ideas on the subject. The buckwheat here is all thrashed by men who 
have thrashing-machines, and go from farm to farm thrashing the 
grain for a stated price per bushel. These men soon noticed that, when 
they came within three or three and a half miles of our apiaries the 
yield of grain was much better than outside that circle; in fact, it 
yielded sometimes nearly twice the amount per acre. This was a sur- 
prise to some farmers. Their orchards also gave them much more 
fruit. The change of opinion among them has been so complete that 
they are now anxious to have our bees do well. 
I sometimes wonder if there is any other business that has had 
to go through the mire of ignorance and superstition equal to bee 
keeping. 
Still another question I am often asked is, “Will the greater part 
of the honey in the future be produced by the specialist, or by men 
who have other lines of business to follow in connection with bee 
keeping?” 
In order to give this question any thing like a correct answer 
we must not only go back and review the bee-keeping of the past, but 
we must look upon it in the future as being subject to the same natural 
laws and conditions as all other lines of business. For some time 
we have seen a continual concentration of capital in every line of busi- 
ness. The men who have a thorough knowledge of their business, and 
