. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. Feb. 19, 1914.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 79 They should be capable of doing so. They have existed long enough to know. Whether Mr. Martinson's plea for the extinction of the weaker bee-keeper is sound or not; whether the Associations should devote their attention to the capable; whether the travelling experts and lecturers do good and needed work; whether Mr. Mattinson takes too com- mercial a view of the question; here at least are the makings of a pretty discus- sion, and we may hope that Mr. Mattin- son's proposals will be fully critici
. British bee journal & bee-keepers adviser. Bees. Feb. 19, 1914.] THE BRITISH BEE JOURNAL. 79 They should be capable of doing so. They have existed long enough to know. Whether Mr. Martinson's plea for the extinction of the weaker bee-keeper is sound or not; whether the Associations should devote their attention to the capable; whether the travelling experts and lecturers do good and needed work; whether Mr. Mattinson takes too com- mercial a view of the question; here at least are the makings of a pretty discus- sion, and we may hope that Mr. Mattin- son's proposals will be fully criticised by those who have real practical experience of Association work. The secretaries start at least with the advantages of optimism on their side. Is there anything to be said, on the other? A Word for the Italian Bee (p. 47).— It is very easy to deceive oneself when comparing races. At least, special and careful observation is essential to the arriving at just conclusions. As a queen- breeder I have obliged myself to take such note, and one vital point is the age of the queen. Thus, stocks of the same strain may give very different results owing to a variance in this factor. In the Italian strain, which I once possessed, I found the queens were shorter lived than those of my English bees, which were superseded at longer intervals. Now, if one may suppose a variety having the habit of supersedure, its colonies would usually start the year with the advantage of young queens. But whether such auto- matic advantage outweighed other dis- advantage would be a matter for the bee- keeper to decide. There is no doubt that the Italian bee does not excel as a " comb- honey " bee, but the owner might do well to turn his attention to' extracted honey. On the other hand, if he will re-queen his stocks methodically he may go a long way before finding a better bee for all-round work than the common English [8907] A Novice's Queries.—I should be greatly obliged if you would
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