ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATIOlSr. 97 



cultivation. We are coming more and more to place outapiaries near 

 the back of the farm in a small pasture or clearing in the wood lot, 

 and even this is subject to such conditions as being away from culti- 

 vated fields on the one hand, and having a lane which is passable on 

 the other. In any case the system of trucking all supers home to 

 extract makes us practically independent of buildings at outyards. 

 The site, of course, should be well drained and well sheltered from cold 

 winds. This is exceedingly important. 



For transportation, of course nothing short of an automobile will 

 answer, unless aeroplanes should be adapted for private commercial 

 use. We have found the Ford very satisfactory, and have used a team 

 of two light Ford trucks for bringing home supers; but after using a 

 ton truck last season we would not care to go back to the smaller trucks. 

 It will carry a 50 per cent overload easily, and where roads are good 

 would draw a loaded trailer in addition. 



The next point I wish to speak of in reference to extending a 

 bee-keeping business is the matter of buildings. These, of course, 

 are needed for work and for storage. For both they are better to be 

 bee-tight, but where extracting is not done bees do not hunt out the 

 crevices quite so vigorously. The arrangement of buildings will de- 

 pend on the system followed. If supers go home to extract, buildings 

 at outapiaries do not need to be so carefully built, in fact they can be 

 dispensed with entirely if necessary with no greater hardship than 

 that of setting up some of the winter-cases for storage in summer. 



Before the days of power extractors, steam knives, and motor 

 trucks, the extracting outfit was easily conveyed in a one-horse wagon, 

 and the teaming home of supers was out of proportion to the cost of 

 extracting at outapiaries. In those days also barrels were more com- 

 monly used for storage. These were filled, plugged and left for ship- 

 ment from the nearest railway station. In that way the honey from 

 outyards never saw our home, and they made quite a safe package 

 to leave in a building which was away from human habitation. Weigh- 

 ing about seven hundred pounds apiece they were not likely to be 

 carried off. At present our system is quite different. We have at 

 home a building which is meant to be large enough to take care of the 

 supers from all the yards. In it all modern machinery calculated to 

 add to the comfort and speed of the operators is installed. No honey 

 is removed from the hives until the crop is all on, this gives a better 

 ripened product. Supers are then removed by means of escapes, 

 stacked on the truck and driven home. The loose bees not removed 

 by the escapes fly away and return to their hives while the load is 

 going the first mile. At home, the garage is in the Apiary building, 

 which of course is bee-tight, so the load is driven immediately under 

 cover for unloading and reloading with empties. Cappings are removed 

 with steam knives and fall on a melter which returns their honey to 

 the extractor without injuring it. The eight-frame extractor and 

 pump deliver the honey to store tanks which hold 2,500 pounds each. 

 Two men will run five hundred pounds per hour without great diffi- 

 culty. We enjoy life better ourselves and think it makes hired help 

 more contented to have this work all at home avoiding the moving 



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