BEGINNINGS. 41 



and the greater would be my pleasure among the 

 hives. I thereupon decided to Italianize at the 

 earliest practicable time. To this end I at once 

 sent out several letters to different importers of 

 Italian bees, inquiring for what sum they could 

 send me one strong swarm of Italians with a 

 selected queen, purity and safe arrival guaranteed. 

 To get a selected queen in the early spring would 

 cost more than to wait and get one later. But I 

 could not afford to wait. The improvement in my 

 stock would more than make up for the extra ex- 

 pense. In a few days answers began to arrive. 

 The dealers were not eager to sell selected queens 

 in the spring ; they could make more by breeding 

 from them to supply the growing demand for Ital- 

 ians. But one of the most reliable importers had 

 received an invoice of queens late the previous au- 

 tumn, which he was wintering. He would give me 

 a warranted swarm of pure Italians, with a selected 

 queen, for $20 00. It was a large sum to pay for a 

 single swarm of bees. It is to be remembered that 

 this was several years ago. They are cheaper now. 

 I could get the selected queen alone for $10 00. 

 The queen was all I really needed, and if I had 

 been an expert in handling bees, I should have sent 

 only for the queen. But being a beginner, I felt 

 there was some risk in my introducing a valuable 

 queen to one of my black stocks. It was best and 



