. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. THE BRITISH GOLDEN BEE. THE GOLDEN-COLOURED QUEEN ANH WORKER. I think that even were it possible to select single drones for breeding from, it would not be advisable, for we may be sure that the honey-bee depends partly upon the natural selection of drones for its vigour and usefulness. It is not asserted that one drone transmits exactly the same characters as another, but this uncontrolled element of variation is re- duced to a negligible quantity by the em- ployment of pure stock and continuous careful selection. Of late years much progr
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. THE BRITISH GOLDEN BEE. THE GOLDEN-COLOURED QUEEN ANH WORKER. I think that even were it possible to select single drones for breeding from, it would not be advisable, for we may be sure that the honey-bee depends partly upon the natural selection of drones for its vigour and usefulness. It is not asserted that one drone transmits exactly the same characters as another, but this uncontrolled element of variation is re- duced to a negligible quantity by the em- ployment of pure stock and continuous careful selection. Of late years much progress has been made in the general science of breeding, and one of the valuable points that have been brought to the front is the import- ance of breeding from specimens that have been proved to be best able to transmit their desirable qualities to their offspring. In the work carried on in Ripple Court Apiary every queen bred from has, of course, been proved to produce industrious and vigorous workers; but it is desirable * See the series of articles, " Breeding the British Golden Bee in Ripple Court Apiary," in the last four December issues of the to go further, and to breed from queens that have been proved to be best able to transmit to their queen-daughters the power to produce such workers and any other qualities bred for. For example, the colonies produced by the daughters of the "V" queen (all of which were golden- coloured), when tested for utility and vigour in 1909, did much better, on the average, than the colonies : produced by the golden-coloured daughters of the "C" queen; consequently, a great number of queens were bred from the "V" queen and her daughters in 1909, but none were bred either from the "C" queen or from any of her daughters. It is true that this method of breeding increases in-breed- ing, but its value for fixing, maintaining, and improving any particular type is un- deniable, and breeders of o
Size: 1413px × 1769px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondon, booksubjectbees
