asy to brave the inclemency of
the weather and the severity of our winters, and populous in bees. The
bees partake of the characteristics of the queen.

The fact of the matter is, that more than 90% of our Minnesota queens
are either black Germans or hybrids, neither of which lend themselves to
pleasant and profitable beekeeping. Having been inbred for years will
make them still less valuable, and most of them have been inbred for
generations.

Among many things in which the beekeepers of Minnesota should begin to
improve their beekeeping possibilities, the necessity of good queens
comes first. With a new strain of pure, gentle, industrious, leather
colored Italian bees, their love for beekeeping should receive a new
impetus, leading them to better equipment and better management.

It was with this point in view that the University of Minnesota has
secured the best breeding queens obtainable from which to raise several
thousands of queens for the use of beekeepers of the state.

These queens will be sold each year during the months of June, July and
August at a nominal price of fifty cents each, and not more than three
to each beekeeper. The University is ready to book orders now. There is
such a demand for these queens that last year only one-quarter of the
orders could be filled. Given three pure Italian queens to start with, a
beekeeper may easily re-queen his whole bee-yard in the course of a
year. Detailed printed instructions how to proceed will be sent out to
all buyers of queens free of charge.

Time has come to start bee-keeping on a more profitable basis, and the
first step towards better success should be a new strain of queens.

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTES

By F.L. WASHBURN, Professor of Entomology, University of
Minnesota.

RABBITS; RABBIT-PROOF FENCES; FIELD MICE.

Probably the thoughtful orchardist has before this date visited his
orchard and trampled the deep snow down around his young fruit trees for
a distance of two feet on all sides of each trunk, thus preventing
rabbits from reaching the trunk above the protected part, or from eating
the branches in the case of low-headed trees. Even at this date, this
should be done where the snow lies deep. Frequent tramplings about the
young trees also protects the trees from possible injury by field mice
working beneath the snow.

This leads us to speak of our experiences with so-called "rabbit-proof"
fencing. In the summer time, when an abundance of