74 ALEXANDER'S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 



two good empty breeding-combs the queen will fill them with brood, 

 and your colony will be much stronger and better In the spring. 



Still another thing in favor of our yellow bees which is of more 

 Importance than all other things combined Is the fact that they are 

 almost immune to that destructive disease known as American foul 

 brood. Those of us living in this part of New York, who lost chou- 

 sands of colonies a few years ago from the effects of that disease, now 

 well how much we owe to those yellow Italian bees; for without hem 

 the production of honey in this part of the state would be a thing of 

 the past. Sometimes I think the great loss we sustained was a bless- 

 ing In disguise, for now we have better bee-keepers, better bees, and 

 are securing far more surplus annually from our Italian bees than we 

 ever procured from the black and hybrid colonies we used to keep. 



When dividing or forming nuclei It is frequently quite diflacult to 

 keep the darker strains from returning to the old stand; but not so 

 with the golden Italians. I find that. If they have some brood, or a 

 queen of any kind, they will stay wherever we put them. This is a 

 good point, and often saves much trouble; then they will defend their 

 hives from robber bees the best of any I have ever had. 



Give these bees the special care they require and you will be sur- 

 prised at the good surplus you will receive during poor seasons. Almost 

 any bees will give us some surplus during a good season, but It is the 

 well-bred bees that give a surplus every year. They will find nectar 

 though they may have to go several miles for It. 



Now don't think we have either bees or queens for sale, as we have 

 not. I write the above only according to our experience In keeping 

 bees of all shades of color from the genuine black to the yellowest 

 Italian. 



I might cite many more valuable traits that are well developed in 

 those yellow bees, such as having but little desire to swarm, and breed- 

 ing up fast In the spring. This is very much in their favor, as they 

 keep their brood so compact that comparatively few bees are required 

 to feed and keep it warm. Then it is easily proven that they cover a 

 much larger field in search of nectar than the darker strains. I have 

 often found them a mile or more further from home than the other 

 bees. 



With our well-bred Italian bees we now have good stock to work 

 from; so let us unite In trying to improve them along the lines most 

 necessary in developing a superior all-purpose strain of bees. This can 

 be accomplished to a great extent in a short time; then bee-keeping 

 will become more reliable, more profitable, and a much pleasanter oc- 

 cupation. It has been a long hard task to free It from the rut of igno- 

 rance and superstition of past ages; but we have at last placed it well 

 forward among the Intellectual pursuits of rural life; and now det us 

 be careful and take no step backward that will check its forward prog- 

 ress along with other successful agricultural pursuits. 



March, 1908. 



