

ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



51 



are getting the same results, so I will 

 have to get away from that theory. 



Mr. Kildow — This summer we had 

 a stoppage in the honey flow. Some 

 cases only got fairly started in the 

 center of the section; they only 

 worked one side; later on they filled 

 the case up. 



Question — Will carbolic acid spread 

 on the landing board of a hive that is 

 doing the robbing, stop it? 



Mr. Root — I should say it may stop 

 things temporarily, but what stops 

 robbing also drives back the guards. 

 I would say, let carbolic acid alone 

 when dealing with robbing. 



Find out where the robbing is, and 

 put a cage over them. 



I have found that carbolic acid ag- 

 gravates the trouble. 



Mr. Coppin — I tried carbolic acid 

 twenty years ago, and gave it up for 

 not being very good. 



I used to take corn cobs, when I had 

 a case of robbing, and put a little car- 

 bolic acid on the corn cob and put it 

 at the entrance of the hive. 



The robbers would stoop just before 

 they struck the corn cob and not go 

 any farther, but I have had it so that 

 I thought all the bees in the hive were 

 dead, but they finally recovered. 



I don't like to use it on that account. 



Mr. Stone — Do you put the carbolic 

 acid at the entrance of the hives doing 

 the robbing? 



Mr. Coppin — Yes. 



Mr. Pyles — My impression is, if you 

 put it sufficiently strong on the land- 

 ing board of the hive doing the rob- 

 bing, it will stop the robbing 



Mr. Root — I applied the remedy to 

 the hive that was being robbed. 



Mr. Pyles — You fellows have been 

 treating the wrong horse. 



Mr. Dadant — The effect of that car- 

 bolic acid would be to give those bees 

 a peculiar smell that would make the 

 other bees flght them more readily. 



Is that the purpose of the carbolic 

 acid? 



Mr. Stone — In decapping for extract- 

 ing, is it desirable to save the comb 

 or get what wax you can? 



President Baxter — Somebody who 

 does a great deal of extracting might 

 answer that question. I guess it lies 

 between Mr. Dadant and Mr. Root to 

 answer that. 



Mr. Root — I would like the Presi- 

 dent's answer. 



President Baxter — It all depends 

 upon the thickness of your combs. If , 

 the combs are fairly thick, say two 

 inches or two and one-half inches, just 

 slide the capping off, provided they are 

 smooth. If they are thicker than that, 

 three or more inches, cut them down. 

 I only use nine combs in seventeen 

 inch space. 



Mr. Stone — Is that a ten-inch frame 

 hive ? 



President Baxter — Eleven inch frame 

 hive. I had good combs of extracted 

 that way, and I get results from the 

 combs. I like to have combs that are 

 about that thick, and keep them that 

 way as much as possible. 



I have combs I have been using for 

 thirty-five or forty years; those combs 

 get pretty thick. 



I have had them so that eight frames 

 were all you could get in a box of that 

 width, and I tell you some of those 

 frames would produce honey, too. 



Mr. Withrow — I don't depend upon 

 which would be the best, unless we^ 

 could find out about the production of 

 wax. It would depend upon which you 

 liked the best. I like to cut them down 

 pretty thin, then I have wax to send 

 away to make foundation out of. 



Question — Does the Illinois State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association average in 

 efficiency with other State associa- 

 tions? 



President Baxter — We will ask Mr. 

 Root that. He has visited a great 

 .many associations. - 



Mr. Root — I really don't know as 

 I would know what is meant by 

 efficiency. 



Work accomplished and done, I pre- 

 sume. I should think the Illinois asso- 

 ciation, for the number jof membership, 

 is accomplishing as much, when you 

 come to consider what other associa- 

 tions are doing, and a good deal more. 



The only organization that I could 

 compare with it at all would be the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, and 

 they have a regular grant of $500. 

 Their membership is larger. I think 

 between six and seven hundred, and 

 they are doing a great deal for bee 

 culture in their state. 



They also have an agricultural col- 

 lege in connection with it, and an 



