ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPEKS' ASSOCIATION. 165 



in May, and then there is nothing comes on until alfalfa blooms the 

 middle of June, and unless we feed they go back. In fact, there is 

 such a dearth of pollen that feeding does not give us the desired results. 

 Then the alfalfa begins blooming about the 15th or 25th of June, and 

 we have a rather steady flow then for the rest of the season, up until 

 perhaps the 15th of August, and it may run on to the 15th of Septem- 

 ber. We do not have the vast flow which people in the clover districts 

 enjoy. We may have a few days of vast honey flow, and it may be 

 five or or seven pounds average per day, but it would not go above that. 

 I never had a colony on the scales that registered over eight pounds in 

 a day. Others have had better records than that, but I haven't. 



I do think one thing, and that is that we haven't given our best 

 efforts to storing. We got behind with out work this past season and 

 could not keep up extracting and kept piling on the frames, I had them 

 four and five high, up to the latter part of October, for the reason that 

 we could not extract fast enough. We were extracting out doors, 

 though, the first week in November, when we finished up. It was hard 

 work, but we got it done. It was better than bringing the honey in 

 and heating it up and working inside. 



A Member. — You use the Italian bees, of course? 



Mr. Foster. — rQuite largely. Two years ago I bought two 

 hundred Italian queens of half a dozen different breeders and scattered 

 them around through the yards, and then we raised a good many 

 daughters from the better queens. I like the Goldens very much, 

 except that they get American foul brood worse than the others. There 

 is quite a little American foul brood around among the farmers, so 

 that I think the Goldens perhaps were a little better rustlers and they 

 found more, that is about the only way I can explain it. It has been 

 my experience that the Golden Italians develop American foul brood 

 to a greater extent. 



A Member. — Do they stand the winter as well as the others? 



Mr. Foster. — I haven't noticed any difference in that. I don't 

 keep very close tab on individual colonies. With twelve hundred 

 colonies I haven't time. I had a heavier loss than a good many of 

 my neighbors, and I aim to make up winter losses by increasing the 

 following spring. Out of 1,200 colonies I will expect to lose 150, 

 something better than 10 per cent. I think it is for the reason that 

 we didn't have time to go around and look after each colony and get 

 them in proper shape for wintering. Help could not be secured, and 

 the men that could do that work had to spend their time otherwise. 

 In the last three years I made every effort I could to have as big a crop 

 as possible, and then I had to use a good deal of inexperienced help in 

 getting it off and getting it on the market. In fact, some of my honey 

 did not get strained until after it was granulated and it had to be liqui- 

 fied and strained, which was a nuisance. At the same time, it was 

 the best we could do. I thank you. (Applause.) 



Mr. Kindig. — Mr. Chairman, I was a good deal interested in 

 what Mr. Foster said about that packing case. I would like to ask 

 Mr. Foster whether he made it according to Dr. Phillips' directions. 



Mr. Foster. — No, I did not make it exactly according to his 

 directions. 



