FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



229 



Italian queen every year or two, but for several years I 

 have preferred to rear from queens of my own whose 

 workers have distinguished themselves as being the most 

 desirable. 



IMPORTANCE OF SELECTION. 



The queen being the very soul of the colony, I hardly 

 consider any pains too great that will give better queens. 

 The first thing is to select the queen from which to rear, 

 for generally all rearing will be from the same queen, 

 whether for the home apiary or an outside apiary. The 

 records are carefully scanned, and that queen chosen 

 which, all things considered, appears to be the best. The 

 first point to be weighed is the amount of honey that has 

 been stored. Other things being equal, the queen whose 

 workers have shown themselves the best storers will have 



Fig. 79. — Supers of Sections Blocked Up, 



the preference. The matter of wintering will pretty 

 much take care of itself, for a colony that has wintered 



