QUEEN-REARING IN ENGLAND. 



6i 



It was e\ident that the queens that produced all goldens 

 had been mated b>' a pure golden drone, and this was con- 

 firmed by the fact that the all-golden families were most 

 numerous (i) from the matings that took place at the end 

 of each season, namely, in August and September, when 

 most of the drones in neighbouring apiaries had been killed 

 off and only the golden drones in Ripple Court Apiary re- 

 mained, and (2) from the matings that took place in cool 

 and windy weather, and, therefore, close t,o the apiary. 



.Matings of the latter kind I have called by the name of 

 " restricted matings." ?\Inst of them did not take place 

 until the queens had been hatched twelve to fifteen days. 



Fig. 35. 

 Diagram showing liow a slightly restricted range of flight may completely 

 isolate an apiary for breeding purposes. The dots represent imaginary 

 apiaries, and the circles ranges of flight. The ranges of flight of queens 

 and drones are not shown separately. 



Ripple Court Apiary is a very favourable spot for re- 

 stricted mating. The surrounding country is rather destitute 

 of trees, and is much swept by cool winds, the prevailing 

 north-easterly and south-westerly winds both blowing off the 

 open sea, which is four and seven miles off in these respec- 

 tive directions. Perfectly calm days are rare. On sunny 

 days in summer, when it is warm inland, the maximum 

 temperature is generally about 5 degrees to 10 degrees lower and 

 the wind stronger than in warm places inland. But there 

 is more sunshine and the nights are warmer than inland. 



